Bruno Le Maire, France’s Minister of the Economy and Finance, doesn’t seem to be a fan of Facebook’s Libra project.

According to The Telegraph, Le Maire said that France would block Libra’s development in Europe because it poses a threat to “government sovereignty.”

“All these concerns about Libra are serious,” Le Maire said. “I therefore want to say with plenty of clarity: in these conditions we cannot authorize the development of Libra on European soil.”

Le Maire, who was Speaking at an OECD event in Paris, went on to say that Libra would become a global currency “held by a single player, which has more than two billion users around the world.” He added that it would “substitute itself as a national currency,” call into question the independence of states, and basically mess up the financial system.

“I don’t see why we should dedicate so much effort to combating money laundering and terrorist financing for so many years to see a digital currency like Libra completely escape those regulatory efforts,” he said.

Le Maire didn’t mention how he plans to block Libra and given that Libra’s governing body is headquartered in Switzerland, he may not be able to do much about it anyway. As The Block notes however, the French government could block apps that support it and even prevent local merchants from accepting it, making it completely impractical in the country.

At any rate, here’s what the Libra Association told CoinDesk regarding Le Maire’s comments:

“The comments today from France’s economy and finance minister further underscore the importance of our ongoing work with regulatory bodies and leadership around the world. In the nearly three months since the intent to launch the Libra project was announced, we have become the world’s most scrutinized fintech effort. We welcome this scrutiny and have deliberately designed a long launch runway to have these conversations, educate stakeholders and incorporate their feedback in our design. The Libra Association and its members are committed to working with regulatory authorities to achieve a safe, transparent, and consumer-focused implementation of the Libra project. We recognize that blockchain is an emerging technology, and that policymakers must carefully consider how its applications fit into their financial system policies.”

Photo: Chatham House