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

The Consumer Code initially made subject to the canvassing rules any contract relating to “the purchase, sale, lease, lease-purchase or lease with option to purchase goods, or the provision of services”. While the sale of movable property  and most services   undoubtedly fell within the scope of the regulation, some contracts have given rise to difficulties. This was the case for contracts for tra …

Subject-matter of contract

The Consumer Code initially made subject to the canvassing rules any contract relating to “the purchase, sale, lease, lease-purchase or lease with option to purchase goods, or the provision of services”. While the sale of movable property  and most services   undoubtedly fell within the scope of the regulation, some contracts have given rise to difficulties. This was the case for contracts for tracing successions, in respect of which the direct sellers indicated that the service had been performed before the consumer, unique and determined in advance, was contacted. As no exception in this area was provided for in the legislation, the Court of Cassation had held that such contract had to comply with the rules laid down by the Consumer Code, in the same way as other services . It was also argued that the lease contract granted by a landowner following canvassing was not covered by the protective rules, since the professional himself offered no goods or services . The Court of Cassation overturned the decision of the trial judges by pointing out that the Consumer Code expressly referred to the lease contract, without distinguishing whether the lease was given or taken by the consumer . The solution was logically extended to contracts for the lease of private advertising spaces .

Article L. 221-1 of the Consumer Code  now covers contracts concluded between professional traders and consumers for the sale of one or more goods, as well as contracts for both the provision of services and the delivery of goods , contracts for consideration (contrats onéreux), contracts for the supply of digital content not supplied on a tangible medium or digital services for which the consumer provides personal data. It is further supplemented by Article L. 221-4 which establishes that the rules governing off-premises contracts also apply to contracts for the supply of water, gas or electricity when they are not supplied in a defined volume or quantity, as well as for the supply of district heating and of digital content not provided on a tangible medium. 

In contrast, Article L. 221-2 of the Consumer Code sets out a long list of contracts excluded from protection :

-  contracts for social services, including social housing, childcare and support of families, with the exception of the personal services referred to in Article L. 7231-1 of the Labor Code;

-  contracts for health services provided by health professionals to patients to assess, maintain or restore their state of health, including the prescription, dispensation and provision of medicinal products and medical devices;

-  contracts relative to gambling and games of chance referred to in Article L. 320-6 of the Internal Security Code, including lotteries, casino games and betting transactions;

-  contracts for a tourist package, within the meaning of Article L. 211-2 of the Tourism Code;

-  contracts for the use of time-share properties, long-term holiday product contracts and resale and exchange contracts referred to in Articles L. 224-69 and L. 224-70 of the Consumer Code;

-  contracts drawn up by a public officer;

-  contracts for the supply of foodstuffs, beverages or other everyday household goods, which are physically delivered by a professional during frequent and regular visits to the consumer's home or place of residence or work ;

-  contracts relating to passenger transport services, with the exception of the provisions of Article L. 221-14;

-  contracts concluded by means of vending machines or automated commercial sites;

-  contracts with telecommunications operators for the use of public telephone booths or for a single connection by telephone, internet or fax, in particular value-added services and products accessible by telephone or by text message;

-  contracts relating to the creation, acquisition or transfer of real property or rights in immovable property, the construction of new buildings, the major transformation of existing buildings or the rental of a property for residential purposes .

- contracts for goods sold by way of seizure or otherwise by operation of law.

Furthermore, some canvassing is simply prohibited. This applies to canvassing on behalf of educational institutions , with a view to offering consultations and drafting legal acts , with regard to funeral services , for the sale, purchase or exchange of gold in bullion, bars, foreign currencies and demonetized gold coins  and for the sale or exchange of foreign banknotes .

 For the sale of kitchen elements: TGI Poitiers, 12 March 1992, LawLex200300002579JBJ (on the grounds that they can only be regarded as fixtures once installed); of a photovoltaic installation: CA Paris, 23 March 2012, LawLex201200001391JBJ.

 For an agricultural appraisal contract: CA Riom, 22 June 2006, LawLex201200001448JBJ; for a business contract: Cass. crim., 19 January 1994, LawLex200300002822JBJ and Cass. 1re civ., 7 February 1990, LawLex200300002700JBJ; for a contract to join a dating agency: TI Niort, 8 December 1999, LawLex200300002955JBJ; for a project management contract: CA Rennes, 30 March 2000, LawLex200300002758JBJ; for an agreement relating to assistance to traffic accident victims: Cass. crim., 26 September 2006, LawLex200700000119JBJ.

Cass. crim., 25 June 2019, LawLex201900001204JBJ, stressing that in order to avoid the provisions relative to off-premises contracts, rounds for the sale of foodstuffs must be made frequently regularly at the same addresses.

 The Law of 1972 originally only concerned, apart from the provision of services, contracts relating to “goods or objects of any kind”. On the grounds of this text, the Court of Cassation excluded sales or construction operations relating to buildings from the scope of solicitation. Law 89-421 of June 23, 1989 amended the text which, until the Hamon Law, referred to contracts relating to “goods”, without distinguishing between moveable or immoveable property. The courts concluded that real estate sale transactions concluded during canvassing were now subject to the requirements relating to canvassing. The Criminal Chamber approved this solution, followed by many trial judges. The Hamon Law, in a first attempt to transpose Directive 2011/83, partially called this solution into question, by stating that “for contracts for the construction, acquisition or transfer of real estate property, and those relating to rights on real estate property or the lease of property for use as a main place of residence, concluded off-premises, only sub-sections 2, 3, 6 and 7 apply”. Since this transposition did not comply with the maximum harmonization intended by the directive, which exempts these contracts from all the regulations, the Macron Law of August 6, 2015 amended Article L. 121-16-1 (now Article L. 221-2) by providing for a total exclusion. Nevertheless, a residual application of the protective rules remains possible: under the former texts and to overcome the uncertainties concerning the applicability of the regulations to the real estate sector, case law had relied on the mandate agreements proposed by real estate agents to submit them, as service providers, to Articles L. 121-21 et seq.

 Education Code, Articles L. 471-4 et seq.

 Law No 71-1130 of 31 December 1971, Articles 66-4 and Decree No 72-785 of 25 August 1972. The Hamon Law of 17 March 2014 nevertheless excluded attorneys from this prohibition, which was hitherto applicable to them.

 General Code of Territorial Collectivities, Article L. 2223-33.

 Monetary and Financial Code, Articles L. 342-1 et seq.

 Monetary and Financial Code, Article L. 342-3.

 See Cass. crim., 30 October 1996, LawLex200300002802JBJ; Cass. crim., 4 February 1998, LawLex200300002785JBJ, upholding CA Douai, 15 October 1996, LawLex200300004302JBJ; Cass. 1re civ., 8 July 2003, LawLex200300002741JBJ. See also CA Paris, 19 March 1998, LawLex200300002714JBJ; 16 January 2001, LawLex200300002960JBJ; CA Pau, 23 November 2000, LawLex200300002844JBJ.

 CA Aix-en-Provence, 20 January 2004, LawLex200500005816JBJ.

 Cass. 1re civ., 30 March 2005, LawLex200500005611JBJ.

 Cass. crim., 16 June 1993, LawLex200300002827JBJ. See also CA Montpellier, 16 December 2003, LawLex200400002196JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 17 May 2023, LawLex202300007423JBJ, the combined contract for the supply of a photovoltaic kit and a water heater, as well as their full installation and activation, must be classified as a contract of sale under the provisions of the Consumer Code governing distance and off-premises contracts.

 The list in Article L. 221-2 is identical to that of Article 3 (3) of Directive No 2011/83 of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights.

 Within the meaning of Directive No 2011/83, transposed by the Hamon Law, financial services include any service related to banking or insurance. The regulations governing banking or financial solicitation, which we will not examine as it does not relate to manufactured goods, the core of our study, are set out in Articles L. 341-1 et seq. of the Monetary and Financial Code. The regulations governing insurance solicitation fall under Article 112-9 of the Insurance Code.

French Consumer Law

458. Subject-matter of contract

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Les notions juridiques connexes

458. Subject-matter of contract

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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