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France’s Le Maire Dislikes Apple’s Dominance In EU

By  |  September 8, 2020

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire criticized the dominance of foreign firms in European marketplaces on Tuesday, September 8, directly referencing US tech giant Apple’s power in the digital arena and calling for the creation of more “European champions” reported Euractiv. 

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    Speaking at an event on digital competitiveness organised by the German Presidency of the EU, Le Maire hit out at the “extreme concentration” of certain markets in Europe, where “a small number of very large international platforms are reaping most of the profits.”

    Giving an example of such a scenario, the French finance minister cited Apple’s business operations as a particular area that has been bad for competitiveness in Europe.

    “Apple’s market capitalisation is now larger than the capitalisation of all the CAC 40,” he said, referring to the benchmark French stock market index.

    “It is a competition issue when these companies develop strategies to lock in their users in their services and ecosystems,” Le Maire added, in a veiled reference to Apple’s App Store operations, which has long been a source of frustration for Apple’s rival firms and for smaller companies seeking greater visibility on the platform.

    Full Content: EURACTIVE

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