French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Initially limited, both in its scope and reach, the intervention of the Union authorities has gradually increased. The only text that originally covered, at least in part, the area of unfair practices, Directive No 84/450 of 10 September 1984  on misleading advertising and comparative advertising, was not opposed to the maintenance or adoption by Member States of measures guaranteeing wider protec …

EU law

Initially limited, both in its scope and reach, the intervention of the Union authorities has gradually increased. The only text that originally covered, at least in part, the area of unfair practices, Directive No 84/450 of 10 September 1984  on misleading advertising and comparative advertising, was not opposed to the maintenance or adoption by Member States of measures guaranteeing wider protection for consumers. This led to significant differences between national laws, which resulted in distortions of competition between the businesses of the different Member States and impeded the proper functioning of the internal market. The disparities between the laws increased costs for businesses wishing to engage in marketing, an advertising campaign or a cross-border commercial promotion. They were also a factor of legal uncertainty for consumers, who, without secure knowledge of the content and extent of their rights, were suspicious of cross-border trade.

In order to eliminate the obstacles to the freedom of movement across borders, the Commission decided to adopt uniform rules guaranteeing both a high level of consumer protection and legal certainty for businesses. This harmonization was achieved by Directive No 2005/29 of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market, supplemented in 2009, 2016 and 2021 by a guidance document for its implementation and application . This liberally-minded text seeks to prevent consumers from being misled or exposed to aggressive marketing and to ensure that any claim by professionals in the European Union is clear, accurate and justified, to better inform the choice of consumers while protecting the economic interests of competitors. Like several other consumer protection directives, Directive No 2005/29 was amended by Directive No 2019/2161 of 27 November 2019, which aims to better implement and modernize the EU consumer protection rules . In addition to the introduction of a new sanctions regime, Directive No 2005/29 contains new provisions which aim to take account of the new practices arising from the extensive development of marketplaces.

Directive No 2005/29 was recently amended by Directive No 2024/825 of 28 February 2024 , which the Member States must transpose into their national law by 27 March 2026, and which aims to combat misleading environmental claims, also known as “greenwashing”, early obsolescence, misleading information on the social characteristics of products or undertakings by professionals, or non-transparent and non-credible sustainable development labels. The new legislation, which also reforms Directive No 2011/83, broadens the scope of misleading actions referred to in Article 6 and misleading omissions defined in Article 7, and adds five greenwashing practices and seven early obsolescence practices to the list of per se unfair commercial practices.

Under Article 4, known as the “internal market clause”, the full harmonization achieved by the directive prohibits Member States from adopting or maintaining more restrictive measures than those it defines, even if they are intended to ensure a higher degree of consumer protection .

 OJEC L 250 of 19 September 1984, 17. Amended by Directive No 97/55 of 6 October 1997 (OJEC L 290 of October 23, 1997) then repealed and replaced by Directive No 2006/114 of 12 December 2006, OJEU L 376 of 27 December 2006.

The guidances of 3 December 2009 for the implementation and application of Directive No 2005-29/EC on unfair commercial practices, SEC(2009) 1666, updated and replaced by the guidance of 25 May 2016, SWD(2016) 163 final, itself replaced by Commission Notice 2021/C 526/01 of 29 December 2021, LawLex202200000006JBL.

Directive No 2019/2161of 27 November 2019 amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the better enforcement and modernization of Union consumer protection rules, OJEU L 328 of 18 December 2019.

  For confirmation of the completeness of the harmonization, see, inter alia, Case C-261/07 VTB-VAB NV, Judgment of 23 April 2009, LawLex200900002352JBJ; Case C-265/12 Citroën Belux NV, Judgment of 18 July 2013, LawLex201300001169JBJ.

French Consumer Law

111. EU law

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111. EU law

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Sous parties

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise