France sees US tech fines as piggy bank for EU spending, minister reveals

A top ally of French President Emmanuel Macron gloated that the European Union is treating fines on US tech giants like a piggy bank to bankroll the bloc’s own spending — a brazen disclosure the White House likened to “extortion.”France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad suggested Tuesday that the EU, the self-styled free trade club of 27 nations, use billions squeezed out of firms like Google as “a new revenue stream” to slash membership fees and help fund its lavish outgoings.He bragged on live TV that the 4.6 billion euro, or $5.2 billion, cash grab extracted from the search giant serves as a handy “windfall” for EU governments as they look to agree a massive new 2 trillion euro, seven-year spending plan.“This is a new revenue stream for the European Union — 4.6 billion euros — that should automatically lower the contributions of all member states,” Haddad told public broadcaster France Info, referring to the yearly fees each of the 27 countries pay to a central budget in Brussels to fund shared goals.“This is a discussion we have with the European Union every single time, precisely to keep member states’ contributions under control,” the French MP added.“Therefore, this 4.6 billion-euro windfall tied to the Google fine is good news for the member states as well.”Google was hit with the fine, for breaking antitrust rules, in 2018.

It only officially paid up in July after losing its final appeal in a years-long legal battle over its Android operating system.With the EU already slapping Google with a staggering 10.38 billion-euro, or $11.7 billion, in penalties over the years, Haddad’s comments appeared to offer an extraordinary confirmation of what US critics have long suspected — Europe’s regulatory crusade is less about fair play and more about raiding US corporate coffers to line its own pockets.The White House slammed the rip-off.“President Trump has unequivocally warned trading partners against imposing digital serv...