Jean-Noël Jeanneney, president of the French National Library, spearheaded the appeal to the E.U. Jeanneney, who oversees some 13 million books, presented a bleak vision of Google Print in a book he published in France last week entitled, “When Google Challenges Europe.”

“I think that this could lead to an imbalance to the benefit of a mainly Anglo-Saxon view of the world,” Jeanneney told The Associated Press. “I think this is danger.”

According to Jeanneney and other European leaders, the digitalization is bound to promulgate further the English language and its literatures, which already dominate cyberspace. Meanwhile, many works deemed sources of cultural inspiration in Europe will miss the “cut”—Google’s selection criteria—and thus the eyes and consideration of reading audiences, he said.

Jeanneney said he instead envisioned a European search engine “at the service of culture,” showcasing culturally significant works of literature rather than those targeted by the market-oriented selection process that he attributes to Google.

Jeanneney, however, also said that the possibility of bringing Google into the European project was being considered. Google representatives have so far complied with requests from European officials to discuss available options.

“We are supportive of all digitalization efforts because we believe everyone benefits when more information is available online,” said Susan D. Wojcicki ’90, the company’s director of product development. According to Wojcicki, U.S. libraries are already contributing material written in foreign languages.

Although 23 national libraries in the E.U.’s 25 member states have expressed support for a European search engine, not all of the governments have yet signed on—the crucial step for attaining E.U. funding.

—Staff writer Kimberly A. Kicenuik can be reached at kicenuik@fas.harvard.edu.