Amazon has been forced to announce a minimum €3 delivery fee for books ordered online in France under a law designed to prevent the platform from crushing independent booksellers. It charges a single euro cent at present.
The law, which comes into force on Saturday, allows an exemption for orders worth at least €35, in which case the old fee will continue to apply.
Amazon has launched legal action before the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, claiming that the legislation “conflicts with the law and right of consumers”, but has emailed customers in the interim to alert them to the new charge.
The move is being hailed by cultural figureheads as a victory for French literature over American commerce. They say that it
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