France scraps disputed data‑transfer tax after razor‑thin parliamentary vote

The French National Assembly voted 11‑10 to reject a proposed levy on data traffic from content providers, effectively killing the measure.

The draft legislation would have forced operators to collect €0.055 per gigabyte that providers send to French internet users, with proponents claiming it could raise as much as €10 billion each year.

Opponents said the traffic‑measurement method was unreliable and warned the tax would disadvantage major platforms while delivering little advantage to consumers; the government also deemed the €10 billion estimate unrealistic.

The split vote highlighted sharp partisan lines, with the governing coalition divided and opposition parties united against the proposal; the outcome turned on a solitary dissenting vote from within the majority.

The defeat follows months of pressure from technology companies and digital‑rights organisations, who cautioned that the levy might push up subscription fees and lead content providers to curtail data‑intensive services like video streaming.

Although the tax is now dead, the episode underscores the ongoing debate in Europe over financing public budgets in the digital era; lawmakers may explore other options such as wider digital services taxes, but any new plan will have to solve measurement issues and win broader parliamentary backing.