Several Luxembourg civil society organisations have announced an upcoming demonstration as part of the "Make Amazon Pay" global movement.

The demonstration is set to take place in Luxembourg City on Friday 28 November 2025, from 12:30 to 14:00, with the exact location yet to be confirmed. According to the organisers, the protest aims to "raise awareness of Amazon's shortcomings and abuses in environmental, social, tax and political matters".

Civil Society Group Statement

The announcement was made in a joint statement signed by the following organisations: ASTM; CELL Asbl; Etika; Dei Lénk (The Left political party); Collectif Tax Justice Lëtzebuerg; Collectif Palestine Luxembourg; OGJ (OGBL's youth section); Greenpeace Luxembourg; Rise for Climate.

They argued that Amazon Luxembourg "is not an opportunity for Luxembourg, or anywhere else," referring to comments made by the company in September 2025, when it claimed to have directly and indirectly created more than 10,000 jobs. The organisations instead pointed to media reports suggesting that around 470 positions may be at risk, reportedly linked to a restructuring plan involving artificial intelligence (AI) at the international level.

They acknowledged that "Amazon has a significant impact on the Luxembourg economy and enjoys high-level political support", but argued that this "does not [...] authorise it to violate various national, European and international regulations."

On digital sovereignty, the organisations alleged that Amazon "does not comply with European regulations," referring to a €746 million fine issued in Luxembourg for violations of EU data protection rules - a ruling upheld by Luxembourg's Administrative Court in March 2025. They argued that control of the digital space is "a major geopolitical issue", although "the European response has been timid". While acknowledging recent initiatives in Luxembourg, such as the Clarence sovereign cloud, the organisations claimed these remained "out of scale" compared to the challenge. "We call for a much more integrated digital sovereignty," they stated.

On political matters, the organisations linked Amazon to both the US Trump administration and the conflict in Gaza, citing international media reports on the use of cloud services by governments. They argued that Amazon has aligned itself with "authoritarian" policies.

Regarding the environment, the organisations alleged that Amazon "hides" its actual environmental impact, particularly in terms of water and electricity consumption at its data centres. They referred to a leaked internal document suggesting that Amazon leaders had developed a strategy to "conceal the true extent of its data centres' water consumption". The organisations also argued that Amazon's use of "green certificates" amounted to greenwashing and masked reliance on fossil fuel infrastructure. They further criticised Amazon's subscription-based model and alleged promotion of "overconsumption".

On taxation, the organisations argued that Amazon "refuses to pay its fair share to the community". They cited the Fair Tax Foundation's "Silicon Six" report, published in April 2025, which ranked Amazon first for poor tax conduct. They stressed that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) pay "significantly higher" tax rates than tech giants such as Amazon.

Key Demands

The statement concluded with a list of demands, which included:

  • Amazon's respect for international law and compliance with European directives on data privacy;
  • greater transparency regarding Amazon's environmental impact, including "accurate" electricity and water consumption figures;
  • stronger taxation requirements;
  • Amazon's full compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including payment of the €746 million fine;
  • Luxembourg introducing safeguards against extraterritorial access to data, particularly in relation to the US CLOUD Act, and developing public and sovereign cloud infrastructures.

Response from Amazon

In response to Chronicle.lu's request for comment, Amazon PR & Policy Communications Manager Sarah Tapp stated: "This group is promoting intentionally misleading information and a false narrative. The fact is, at Amazon we provide great pay, great benefits and great opportunities - all from day one. We've created more than 1.5 million jobs around the world, and counting, and we provide a modern, safe and engaging workplace whether you work in an office or at one of our operations buildings."

According to Amazon's own recent economic impact data, the company invested more than €1.8 billion in Luxembourg in 2024, contributing over €700 million to Luxembourg's GDP and supporting approximately 4,900 indirect jobs and 1,400 induced jobs, bringing the total employment impact to more than 10,500 jobs. For more on this, see: https://chronicle.lu/category/business-1/56872-amazon-reveals-eur1-8bn-investment-added-eur700m-to-luxembourg-gdp-in-2024