07/11/2018 (Agence Europe) – Questioned about the result of the discussions on the taxation of digital services that took place at the Ecofin Council on Tuesday (see EUROPE 12131), France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire showed marked optimism to the French national assembly on Wednesday 7 November. "Yesterday, there were 23 of us who agreed for there to be a GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) tax that might be voted on as part of a directive next December", he said. Denmark, Sweden and Ireland remain opposed to this, whilst Germany "is still hesitating", Le Maire said, adding: "I don't doubt for an instant that Germany will be faithful to the commitment it has had with France from the outset to have a GAFA tax by the end of the year". On Tuesday, in order to convince its German partner, France agreed to delaying the application of the directive until 2020. (MF)