O Brasil e a França parecem estar em constante e acirrada competição para saber qual é o país que mais aprova leis idiotas, contra os interesses dos seus cidadãos, pensando defendê-los de algum capitalista perverso (geralmente americano, como ocorre ser).
O Brasil ganha nitidamente em matéria de emendas constitucionais idiotas, algumas até inconstitucionais, como a última aprovada, de n. 73, que extrapolou sobre os poderes do Congresso ao criar tribunais regionais federais, que são da estrita competência do Judiciário.
Mas a França é páreo duro em matéria de legislação ordinária (bota ordinária nisso), como prova esta matéria.
O que se pode fazer quando legisladores são ignorantes em economia e atuam como idiotas consumados?
Paulo Roberto de Almeida
By Hugh Carnegy in Paris
Financial Times, Ocotber 3, 2013
France’s parliament has passed a law preventing internet booksellers from offering free delivery to customers, in an attempt to protect the country’s struggling bookshops from the growing dominance of US online retailer
Amazon.
Speaking during a debate in the National Assembly, she said: “Once they are in a dominant position and have wiped out our network of bookshops, it is a strong bet that they will raise their delivery charges.”
The new law, which will now go for ratification by the Senate, is the latest move by France against US internet companies, which it believes are unfairly using their market power to overwhelm local competition.
Defending France’s cultural assets against the perceived threat from US products and companies has strong cross-party support. All main parties supported the new law, which will be added to 1981 legislation that allows a maximum 5 per cent discount on the centrally-fixed single price for books.
But Amazon attacked the new law, saying all measures that increased the price of books damaged the purchasing power of French consumers and discriminated against those shopping on the internet.
“The impact will be greatest both on the depth of the catalogue [offered to consumers] and on small publishers for whom the internet represents a big part of their business,” Amazon said.
French politicians on the left and right have expressed concern about the fate of France’s strong tradition of independent bookshops in the face of fast-rising internet sales, which had captured 13 per cent of the market by 2011, according to figures in a parliamentary report. Amazon claims some 70 per cent of the online sales.
In June, the government combined with French publishers to launch a €9m joint plan to support independent booksellers. However, Christian Kert of the centre-right UMP party – one of the sponsors of the new law – said bookshops remained “in a difficult situation because of their rents, personnel charges and the cost of their stocks”.
He said Google,
Apple, Facebook and Amazon between them had between €2.2bn and €3bn sales in France, but paid on average only €4m in tax each.