EU industry chief: EU ready to act on digital tax, if OECD fails

European industrial policy chief Thierry Breton said on Monday that if discussions at the OECD level on taxation for digital companies such as Amazon or Google do not bear fruit, the European Union will take action.

"I do not know any optional voluntary tax... On the big digital players, this is obviously not an option," Breton told a news conference. "If it cannot be reached, we would take up the issue at the level of the Commission," he added.

Breton added that European countries, which had failed to agree on a digital tax earlier, were now on the same line.