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

Union law does not directly cover price reduction announcements. In the absence of a specific European framework, national regulations relating to such announcements must comply not only with the general rules of the Treaty, but also, if they fall within its scope, those of the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices  and with those on the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers …

Free movement of goods

Union law does not directly cover price reduction announcements. In the absence of a specific European framework, national regulations relating to such announcements must comply not only with the general rules of the Treaty, but also, if they fall within its scope, those of the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices  and with those on the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers .

Under Article 34 TFEU, the trade regulations of Member States must not directly or indirectly, currently or potentially, impede trade within the Union. In a preliminary ruling on the compatibility with Article 34 of national regulations which prevented the dissemination of advertising announcing price reductions, the Court of Justice held that legislation which restricts or prohibits certain forms of advertising and certain means of promoting sales does not directly concern trade but may be such as to restrict its volume, when it affects the marketing possibilities of the products in question. Articles 34 and 36 TFEU thus oppose the legislation of a Member State which prohibits the indication, in a discount announcement, of the duration of the offer and of the old price charged: when legislation prevents access to certain information, it cannot be justified by a consumer protection objective .

Are French regulations on price reduction announcements compatible with the principle of free movement of goods? The Union judge has not yet been questioned on the compatibility of French orders with Articles 34 and 36 TFEU. So far, only the Paris Court of Appeal has ruled. It considered that Order No 77-105/P  did not impede the free movement of goods, as it does not seek to prohibit the comparison of prices, but to ensure the fairness of this comparison, as well as the security of commercial transactions .

Directive No 2005/29 of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market, OJEU L 149 of 11 June 2005, 22.

Directive No 98/6 of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers, OJEC L 80 of 18 March 1998, 27, amended by Directive No 2019/2161 of 27 November 2019, as regards the better enforcement and modernization of Union consumer protection rules, OJEU L 328 of 18 December 2019, 7.

Case C-362-88 GB-INNO-BM, Judgment of 7 March 1990, LawLex200900000517JBJ.

Currently replaced by the Order of 11 March 2015.

CA Paris, 21 March 1995, LawLex200300004239JBJ.

French Consumer Law

340. Free movement of goods

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

340. Free movement of goods

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise