France Taps Google Fines to Cut EU Budget Contributions

France's Minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, has proposed redirecting revenue from European Union fines against Google to reduce member states' contributions to the common budget. The funds in question are €4.6 billion, which would automatically lower the contributions of all EU member states to the bloc's budget.

According to a report by Reuters, cited by Cyprus Mail, this proposal stems from the recent fine imposed on Google. In July, the tech giant was fined a total of €890 million for violating European Union rules aimed at limiting the influence of major technology companies. This brings the total amount of fines imposed by the EU on Google for anti-competitive practices over nearly two decades to €10.38 billion.

The proposal comes as part of ongoing negotiations between EU capitals over the future budget for 2028-2034. The European Commission has proposed an EU budget of €2 trillion, or 1.26% of the bloc's gross national income, with approximately €168 billion allocated to service EU borrowing for the post-pandemic recovery fund.