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

In addition to the general information obligation, the Consumer Code  requires the provision of information to the consumer most often within the framework of the formation of the contract, in particular at the pre-contractual stage (Articles L. 111-1 to L. 111-8), but also during the contract (Articles L. 215-1 et seq., former Article. L. 136-1, which require service providers to inform the consu …

Provision of pre-contractual and contractual information

In addition to the general information obligation, the Consumer Code  requires the provision of information to the consumer most often within the framework of the formation of the contract, in particular at the pre-contractual stage (Articles L. 111-1 to L. 111-8), but also during the contract (Articles L. 215-1 et seq., former Article. L. 136-1, which require service providers to inform the consumer at least three months and no later than one month before the end of the period authorizing the rejection of the renewal, of the possibility not to renew the contract).

Title I of Book I of the Consumer Code, entitled “Consumer information”, deals with the general pre-contractual information obligation in Chapter I (Articles L. 111-1 to L. 111-8), before detailing it in the following chapters: Chapter II is thus devoted to information relating to the price and conditions of sale (Articles L. 112-1 to L. 112-9 ); Chapter III, entitled “Other information” , concerns the obligation to provide information on the social conditions of manufacture of a product, imposed on the manufacturer, producer or distribution of a good marketed in France, when the consumer so requests (Articles L. 113-1 and L. 113-2) ,  and the obligation to provide information on the seasonality of fresh fruit and vegetables ("Art. L. 113-3 et L. 113-4"), resulting from Law No 2021-1104 of 22 August 2021 on combating climate change and on the strengthening of resilience to its effects ;  and finally, Chapter IV concerns the delivery of standard contracts by the professional at the request of consumers (Article L. 114-1, former Article L. 134-1) .

The Consumer Code lays down a number of other specific information requirements concerning certain consumer contracts, such as contracts for electronic communications services (Articles L. 224-26 et seq., former Articles L. 121-83 et seq.) or contracts for the supply of electricity or natural gas (Articles L. 224-1 et seq., former Articles L. 121-87 et seq.). It also contains provisions relating to consumer information during the drafting of the contract, such as Article L. 211-3 (former Article L. 133-4) of the Consumer Code, which requires the professional at the time of conclusion of any written contract, to inform the consumer of the possibility of resorting to a mediation procedure in the event of a dispute or any other alternative dispute settlement method or Article L. 211-2 (former Article L. 133-3) of the Consumer Code, which requires that the general conditions of sale applicable to consumer contracts mention “the existence, the conditions of implementation and the content of the legal guarantee of conformity and the guarantee against defects of the thing sold, due by the seller” and, where appropriate, “the existence of a commercial guarantee and after-sales service”. Similarly, Article L. 211-1 (3) (former Article L. 133-1) provides that, in order to inform the non-professional or consumer contracting party, decrees issued in Council of State after consulting the Commission on Unfair Terms, may govern the presentation of written deeds recording the contracts referred to in the same Article.

The sole creditor of the information obligations contained in the Consumer Code is the consumer . According to the introductory article of the Consumer Code , “a consumer is any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his commercial, industrial, craft, liberal or agricultural activity”. Therefore, a professional cannot rely on this status.

 Book One, Legislative Part of the Consumer Code is entitled “Consumer information and commercial practices”.

Former Articles L. 113-1 to L. 113-6, Consumer Code.

 Resulting from Law No 2014-856 of 31 July 2014 on the social economy, OJ of 1 August 2014.

 Title I also contained a Chapter on the “modes of presentation and registrations”, moved by Re-codification Ordinance No 2016-301 of 14 March 2016, to Title III of Book IV of the Code, on the conformity and safety of products and services, and another relating to “additional payments”, moved to Title II (devoted to prohibited commercial practices and regulated commercial practices) of Book I.

 CA Lyon, 9 June 2016, LawLex201600001134JBJ: the general obligation to inform of the Consumer Code only applies to consumers and not to traders who contract within the framework of their activity; CA Rennes, 15 June 2018, LawLex201800000955JBJ: the pre-contractual obligation provided for in the Consumer Code does not apply when the seller is a consumer and the purchaser is a professional. 

 The definition of the concept of consumer, previously only in case law, was introduced by the Hamon Law which reproduces that of Article 2 of Directive No 2011/83 of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights. It was supplemented by the Re-codification Ordinance of 14 March 2016 which added agricultural activities.

French Consumer Law

391. Provision of pre-contractual and contractual information

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391. Provision of pre-contractual and contractual information

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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