PARIS: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called Thursday for EU leaders to heed a “wake-up call” on a plan to tax US technology giants, amid signs of growing resistance to the French-led initiative.
“I urge my European counterparts to hear the wake-up call; that they listen to what European citizens want,” Le Maire told France 2 television.
The tax, which Paris hopes to implement early next year, targets multinationals which declare their revenues from across the 28-member European Union in a single low-tax jurisdiction, depriving other countries of billions of euros in fiscal revenue.
It would mainly affect US companies with worldwide annual turnover above €750 million ($870 million), such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Airbnb and Uber.
“European citizens want justice, they want fiscal justice,” Le Maire said.
“They don’t understand why we allow companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook pay 14 percentage points less in tax than small and midsize businesses, or a European company,” he said.
The tax is expected to be high on the agenda as EU and eurozone finance ministers meet in Vienna this weekend.
But France’s proposal, which would require backing by all EU members, appears to be running into resistance.
Germany’s Bild newspaper reported Wednesday that Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who had given his backing to the plan, now believes that “demonization” of tech giants was “not efficient.”
Bild cited an internal ministry note which said that “publicly declaring that companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon should pay taxes on their revenues is not defendable.”
Yet in a press interview Thursday, Scholz denied reversing his stance, while indicating he was considering alternatives.
“There are several proposals, which all have their advantages and disadvantages,” he told the Augsburger Allgemeine.
“But it isn’t the kind of solution that just comes to you while in the shower one morning,” he said.
Asked about Berlin’s stance, Le Maire played down the reported divergences.
“The Germans have been at our side since the beginning to start taxing digital giants. I’m convinced they will support us all the way,” he said.
France urges ‘wake-up call’ on tax for US web giants Google, Amazon and Facebook
France urges ‘wake-up call’ on tax for US web giants Google, Amazon and Facebook
- The tax, which Paris hopes to implement early next year, targets multinationals which declare their revenues from across the 28-member EU in a single low-tax jurisdiction
Real Estate Registry signs 10 agreements at forum in Riyadh
RIYADH: The Real Estate Registry concluded its participation in the Real Estate Future 2026, as a partner of the forum, with a distinguished presence that included the launch of its business portal, the signing of 10 agreements and memoranda of understanding with entities from the public and private sectors, the organization of specialized workshops, and the awarding of the Gold Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards.
During his participation in the forum, the CEO of the firm, Mohammed Al-Sulaiman, reviewed the latest developments in real estate registration in the Kingdom in a keynote speech, highlighting the pivotal role of the Real Estate Registry in building a unified and reliable system for data. He also announced the launch of the national blockchain infrastructure, which aims to enable the microcoding of real estate assets, enhance transparency, expand investment opportunities, and support innovative ownership models within a reliable regulatory framework.
On the sidelines of the forum, Al-Sulaiman met with Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa. During the meeting, they discussed areas of joint cooperation, exchanged experiences and advice on shaping the future of the real estate sector, and reviewed best practices in implementing real estate registration systems that enhance reliability and improve the efficiency of property registration.
efficiency of property registration systems.
The Real Estate Registry’s participation included organizing three specialized workshops that focused on the role of geospatial technologies in identifying ownership, enhancing transparency, and improving the quality of real estate data.
The workshop “Empowering the Real Estate Registry for the Business Sector” reviewed digital solutions that enable the business sector to manage its real estate assets more efficiently and enhance governance and technical integration. The workshop “From Off-Plan Sales to Title Deed” focused on the journey of documenting real estate ownership and the role of the registry in linking the stages of development and documentation within an integrated digital system.
On the sidelines of the forum, the Real Estate Registry signed 10 agreements and memorandums of understanding, including a deal with Yasmina Information Technology Co. to utilize real estate data in developing smarter insurance solutions that support the real estate sector and enhance service reliability.
Partnerships were also signed with Haseel, NewTech, and Sahl, as well as HissaTech and Droub, to develop innovative digital solutions in property ownership, fractional ownership, and asset tokenization, as well as real estate finance and investment within a trusted regulatory framework.
Further collaborations included an MoU with ROSHN Group, an agreement with the Saudi Water Authority to enable data integration and quality enhancement, an agreement with the Saudi National Bank, and a partnership with Saudi Post to link the national address with the property registry as a unified geospatial identifier supporting data accuracy and integration.
The registry’s participation was crowned with the Golden Award at the Real Estate Excellence Awards in the category of Excellence in Property Documentation, in recognition of its role in building a model based on transparency, accuracy, and speed, as well as advanced digital technologies and specialized legal expertise, contributing to rights protection and increasing the sector’s attractiveness.
The Real Estate Registry emphasized that its participation reflects its continued role as a key enabler of the real estate sector, a trusted data source, and an active partner in driving digital transformation, enhancing market efficiency, and building investor and financier confidence, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives for a fully integrated and sustainable digital real estate ecosystem.
