By Elizabeth Pineau

PARIS (Reuters). Sophie Fornairon’s bookshop survived Amazon (NASDAQ)’s rise thanks to a French law banning price discounting for new books. But she believes that Amazon’s inability to ship at a lower cost still skews the marketplace against shops like hers.

Fornairon, the central Paris-based owner of Canal Bookstore hopes that new legislation, which would establish a minimum order price for books, will make it easier to compete with Amazon.

Fornairon said, “It is a just return to a level playing ground.” He employs four people. While we aren’t at imminent risk of losing our jobs, Amazon continues to be a fierce competitor.

Amazon claimed that the bill, which was passed by Parliament but has not been enacted yet, will punish rural residents who can’t easily access a bookstore or rely on deliveries.

Amazon stated in a statement that imposing a minimal shipping charge for books could impact consumers’ purchasing power.

This is a bad outcome that government officials fear at a moment when President Emmanuel Macron’s administration is trying to stem growing discontent about rising energy prices, six months before an election.

Victor Hugo’s country and Simone de Beauvoir’s, in which local bookshops have special affection, was deemed an ‘essential company’ during the COVID lockdowns. The state is protecting national culture against the rise of big tech firms.

Online retailers such as Amazon, Fnac, and Leclerc have eroded the market share for France’s 3300 independent bookstores. This is because more than 20% of France’s 435 million book sales in France were made online in 2019.

Macron supported the bill, but it does not directly target Amazon. The regulator still needs to negotiate the minimum fee.

“DISTORTED COMPETITION.”

French law bans the free delivery of books. Amazon however has circumvented that by charging only one centime. For shipping books, local book shops charge between 5 and 7 euros (between 5.82 and 8.15).

According to the Ministry of Culture, Amazon’s pricing strategy led to the growth of one operator’s market share.

According to the ministry, “This law is required in order to regulate the distorted competition online and stop the inevitable monopoly which will arise if the status quo continues,” Reuters was informed.

Senator Laure Darcos from the Centre, a centre-right senator, drafted the law. She was inspired to establish the minimum delivery fee after she saw how 70% of bookstores survived despite having to close during COVID lockdowns. The government had reimbursed shipping costs.

Darcos explained that the postal costs for bookstores in their local area were a major business inhibitor.

The senator stated that Amazon opposed the bill because it was concerned about precedent setting French moves.

France has many booksellers. They are concentrated in small towns and large cities. Amazon claimed that online book sales have allowed consumers equal access to books regardless of their location.

Book lovers living in rural areas could buy books virtually for free from a bookstore. This was exactly the spirit behind the 1981 law.

When the legislation will be adopted, the Ministry of Culture would not give an exact date because it was too early.

Fornairon, owner of the bookshop was reminded of French legislation by the stream of tourists who kept coming through her doors.

“They said to me, ‘We didn’t know independent bookstores existed still’,” she stated.

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