Apple CEO Tim Cook today met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, and over the course of 45 minutes, the two discussed topics like education, the economy, and taxes in Europe, according to French news sites.
Apple would like to extend its "Everyone Can Code" educational initiative to France, and plans to discuss its expansion with the Ministry of National Education.
Introduced in 2016, Everyone Can Code is aimed at adding coding lessons into elementary schools and colleges. Hundreds of elementary schools have adopted Everyone Can Code material in the United States, and community colleges across the country have also begun offering App Development with Swift classes.
As rumored, Apple also plans to open an installation at Parisian startup incubator "Station F" in an effort to help French app developers create and launch iOS apps. Station F is the largest startup facility in the world and other companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Ubisoft, already run startup programs at the incubator.
The two also discussed the relationship between Apple and French suppliers and how it can be improved, with Apple planning to work with additional French suppliers for future products.
Taxes in Europe were the last topic of discussion. Cook and Macron discussed the need for tech companies to contribute to the economy in the countries in which they operate. Led by Macron, France and Germany have called for an aggressive overhaul of how tech companies pay taxes across the European Union with the aim of introducing a more unified corporate tax system across Europe.
Cook and Macron are said to have had a constructive discussion on taxes, with no deadlock in the dialogue, but both agreed that a solution will ultimately be enacted by the European Union rather than France.
Cook had a busy day in France. In addition to meeting with Macron, he also visited iPhone X component supplier Eldim, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, "My Little Paris" recommendation startup, and "CoachGuitar," a company that makes an app for teaching people how to play the guitar.
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Top Rated Comments
The whole education thing was likely a side conversation and a nice PR spin.
I don't understand why everyone is all over Apple about the Ireland tax issue. They didn't do anything illegal; they simply took advantage of available laws to maximize profits for shareholders. There are probably companies bending the rules far more than Apple does. But Apple is probably the biggest, so it's getting singled out.