According to Reuters, French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said the European Union intends to develop a plan to offer a public and pan-European alternative to Google’s book scanning project. The French, among others, filed formal objections and opposition to the Google Book Search settlement with the court in New York this past September.

An amended settlement was announced by Google and the other parties and given preliminary approval on November 19, 2009. Danny blogged the press conference associated with the announcement of the amended settlement agreement, which sought to address formal US Department of Justice objections and many of the opponents’ concerns.

It thus appears that opponents will be unable, through legal process, to stop the project from going forward — at least in the US. However in France itself a case is pending that would potentially fine Google and prevent the further digitizing of French books. The French court is reportedly set to rule on the matter on December 18.

Related Topics: Google: Book Search | Google: Legal | Google: Outside US

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling