Paris (AFP)

Negative impact on the planet, social disruption, "fraud" tax ... Despite repeated denials, the US online trading giant Amazon found Friday in the forefront of the attacks against global over-consumption on the occasion of Black Friday .

Youth for Climate, Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace or Attac: dozens of activists have made an appointment near Paris, Lyon or Lille in front of sites of the American company to denounce the economic model that represents, which brings together against him advocates for the environment and social rights.

"Today, Amazon has the greenhouse gas emissions of a state," denounced Jean-Francois Julliard, director of Greenpeace France, who had joined the action in front of the headquarters of Amazon in Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine).

"We say stop at Black Friday and his impunity!", "Block Friday", "Amazon destroys jobs and the climate", could we read on the banners brandished by the demonstrators in Clichy, Flers-en-Escrebieux (North) or Saint-Priest (Rhône), where the militants were evacuated by the police.

Criticism against the giant of online sales is not only related to the environment and climate.

"We need more than ever actions of civil disobedience because Amazon is a symbol of impunity", including tax, so estimated in Clichy the MEP LFI Manon Aubry.

Amazon, along with other US multinationals like Google and Facebook, is regularly accused of lowering the revenues it collects in France, in order to reduce its taxes.

To end the tax practices of digital multinationals, the French government voted in late 2018 a tax "Gafa" (acronym for Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple), effective this year.

According to former Digital Secretary Mounir Mahjoubi, last year the US digital giants (Gafa plus Microsoft) reported in France a turnover four times lower than that actually achieved, resulting in a loss of revenue. billion euros for the tax authorities.

MP LREM attacked Amazon a few days ago, accusing him of "destroying 7,900 jobs in France".

- "Proud" -

"Internet users must click knowingly, their Amazon purchases weigh on national employment while the company keeps its employees under pressure to generate a particularly high productivity," he insisted.

Illustrating this criticism, hundreds of Amazon employees in Germany went on strike Friday for Black Friday for better wages and better working conditions.

Amazon has rejected all reviews point by point. In Germany, the company insists on offering wages corresponding to the "upper salary range for this type of work".

In France, "we are very proud of our work environment and we invite all those who wish to visit one of our sites to make their own opinion," the company said in a statement.

"Amazon does not destroy more jobs than it creates, quite the contrary" and "pays all taxes and duties eligible in France and in all countries where it is present", a- she added.

Regarding the climate, it refers to the statements of his boss Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, who assured in September that the multinational would reach carbon neutrality in 2040.

"Ecology at home is important enough, it is at the heart of our strategy," said Friday on RTL the general manager of Amazon France Frederic Duval.

The anti-waste law under discussion "provides for the prohibition of destruction of unsold new products for all companies," said Secretary of State for Environmental Transition Brune Poirson on Twitter.

"The first bans are scheduled within 12 months of the law's adoption, and Amazon is pleased to announce that it intends to honor it," she said.

© 2019 AFP