• A bill to tax the Gafa “by the end of February”
This is one of his fights for a long time: more taxing the giants of the digital as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, etc., While the government relies on this revenue to finance part of the social measures granted in response to the wrath of the “yellow vests”, the contours of the tax Gafa announced in mid-December are specified. Bruno Le Maire says in an interview in the Sunday Newspaper , that this tax, which target the companies offering digital services, will affect “all companies, representing a turnover in excess of € 750 million global and 25 million euros in France.” “If these two criteria are not met, they will not be imposed”, he says. “The rate will be modulated in function of the turnover with a maximum of 5 %”. The government aims to see the report “about 500 million euros”. To do so, Bruno Le Maire, announced that the government will introduce a bill in the Council of ministers “by the end of February which will be quickly submitted to the vote of Parliament”. Its application is retroactive “as of January 1, 2019”.
If France has decided to act without waiting for a consensus at the european level, however, it considers that an agreement is still possible “by the end of march,” France, supporting a proposal made by the Commissioner for economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici. “There are still some countries reluctant. We have made an offer of compromise in December with the Germany and I am convinced that an agreement is now in reach by the end of march. A few months from the european elections, our citizens would not understand that we must renounce”, he explained.
The organization of anti-globalization Attac, critical, long-term strategies of fiscal optimisation of the giants of the digital, late Sunday, an ambition for this taxation “seems limited, as evidenced by his performance low-estimated at 500 million euros”. However, the Gafa “report their income in countries where they escape taxation, such as Ireland or the netherlands,” said Attac, saying in a statement that “taxing their income in France is a false solution to the problem”. “You really get the feeling that, once again, in regards to the tax issue, the government prepared the air”, said Aurélie Found, a spokesman for Attac.
• The Mayor will defend on Monday the merger Alstom-Siemens
Bruno The Mayor believes in it. Long time advocate of this operation in the name of the fight against china’s ambitions in this sector, the minister of Economy considers that the conditions are “true” for a successful merger between the railway activities of the French Alstom and German Siemens. “Refuse the merger between Alstom and Siemens would be a mistake economic and a political mistake”, he adds, echoing comments this week by the government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux. It is approved by the european Commission is in “the interest of France and Germany. It is in the interest of Europe”, has he hammered, while this proceeding has required lately of concessions from the two companies to allow their merger, deeming insufficient the proposals of the two groups to ensure the maintenance of a satisfactory competition.
the minister of The Economy has no intension of letting go. As of Monday, he is meeting with the european commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager. “I will see her again tomorrow morning to discuss the competition policy and to reiterate how much France is attached to this merger”, he says. “Margrethe Vestager is a commissioner of remarkable, who has given proof of his courage in imposing fines is very significant to very large companies as well as the giants of the digital,” he argued. “I want to have confidence in the direction of the general european interest of the european Commission.”
• Renault-Nissan: no change of ownership in a view
On the folder Renault-Nissan, despite the setbacks in court of Carlos Ghosn, the French minister of Economy and Finance ensures that a change of ownership within the Renault-Nissan alliance is not on the agenda. “A rebalancing of shareholder, a modification of the cross-shareholdings between Renault and Nissan is not on the table”, he says in JDD . “We are committed to the proper functioning of this alliance is its strength.” According to Bruno Le Maire, the staff that he was sent to Japan to study the japanese authorities and the executives of Nissan have returned with the conviction that they were all committed to the alliance. “They confirmed to us that Japan, like France, are committed to the preservation of the first automobile manufacturer in the world,” says the minister.
Then that arises now the question of the replacement of Carlos Ghosn the head of Renault, Bruno Le Maire recalls that the State shareholder has “requested a meeting of the board of directors, which should be held in the coming days.” “The principle of the presumption of innocence must apply (…) But there are also the interests of Renault and the alliance. A company of this size needs a strong governance and stable”, he says. While the name of Jean-Dominique Senard, president of Michelin, is cited as a potential successor to Carlos Ghosn the head of Renault, the minister ensures that “the State shareholder will vote”. And to add: “What I can say is that Jean-Dominique Senard has a recognized competence in the automotive sector. At Michelin, it has demonstrated its ability to succeed at the head of a large industrial group, and it has a social conception of the company with which I am personally attached to.”
Los a trip on Sunday in Egypt, the minister confirmed that the scenario of a merger between Renault and Nissan, relayed by the press japan, was “not on the table today”. “What’s on the table today, it is the governance of Renault,” he told the press. “The more important it is to have a strong governance, stable, long-lasting for Renault.” And specify that it should “be put in place by the board of directors in the next few days”.
