how long does this last when when everything french vanishes from Google?
Not gonna happen. If Google did that, they'd leave a big chunk of the European (and African) market to the competition, allowing rivals to get a strong foothold from which to expand. Slightly diminished profit is still profit, and letting the competition unhindered is very un-Google.
the EU is built on the idea of a common market how do they fudge the rules and charge tax on a company registered in another EU country, or is this a sign of the EU itself breaking up?
That's actually 2 questions, "fudge the rules" and "the UE breaking up". The answer to the first question is rather obvious: there is currently no rule, so putting a local one in place while the issue is debated at a higher level is fair game. As for the second, the situation is self-explanatory (Italy, Greece, Brexit, Gilets Jaunes, the looming breakup of the German governing majority, and other signs), all that point to actual people being a bit fed up of the supranational, unaccountable nature of the EU Commission (the EU "Parliament" role was to muddy the waters by suggesting a democratic process, but people are beginning to understand what "consultative" means: the "Parliament is able to voice concerns, which the Commission is then free to disregard entirely)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
