It gets hit with massive fines. It is subjected to constant investigations. Back tax bills for billions suddenly pop out of nowhere despite the fact the countries they are based in say they have paid what they owe in full. Global tech giants are discovering that the EU has become a hostile terrain.

But now the continent’s political leaders have come up with their most dangerous idea so far. France and Germany are pushing for new measures to collect billions in tax from the likes of Google, Apple and Amazon. The plan is to charge them on turnover in each country, rather than letting them route taxes through Ireland, or one of the other lower-tax EU countries.

True, on the surface the major European countries might well be able to raise some extra cash which will help plug the holes in their welfare budgets. But the price will be a high one. The taxes the EU imposes will ultimately be paid by consumers, they will lose all the entrepreneurship and competition that technology enables and, worst of all, over time they will frighten away investment in the one sector that is most likely to create wealth over the coming decades. It would be hard to imagine a more short-sighted, self-destructive policy.