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 introduction into French law of liability for defective products in accordance with Directive No 85/374  has given rise to numerous difficulties. First, although the time-limit for transposition was three years, France only transposed the directive in 1998  after having been censured in 1993 following an infringement procedure initiated by the Commission . Law No 98-389 of 19 May 1998 eventual …

Compatibility with EU law

The introduction into French law of liability for defective products in accordance with Directive No 85/374  has given rise to numerous difficulties. First, although the time-limit for transposition was three years, France only transposed the directive in 1998  after having been censured in 1993 following an infringement procedure initiated by the Commission . Law No 98-389 of 19 May 1998 eventually led to the insertion of Title IV bis in the Civil Code on liability for defective products, now governed by Articles 1386-1 to 1386-18 of the Civil Code.

However, this law was deemed not to be in conformity with Union law by the Court of Justice which, by three judgments of 25 April 2002, ruled on the transposition of the directive in France , Spain  and Greece . The French State was thus condemned for having enacted more protective provisions for the consumer than those provided for by the directive, of maximum harmonization. The Court of Justice accused the French State of three breaches. For damage to property, French legislation (Article 1386-2 of the Civil Code) did not provide for the threshold of EUR 500 (Directive No 85/374, Article 9(b)) below which a consumer seeking compensation for damage does not benefit from the more advantageous rules of evidence laid down by the directive, i.e. the lack of any obligation to prove a lack of diligence on the part of the producer. Moreover, the Civil Code provided that the professional supplier was liable for a product safety defect in the same conditions as the producer, while the directive retains the supplier's liability only in the alternative when the producer is unknown . Finally, although the directive allows Member States to choose whether or not to adopt the development risk exemption , the intermediate position of the French State, which enshrined this exemption, but subjected it to compliance by the producer with a product monitoring obligation, was declared incompatible with the European text. Taking note of this ruling, the French legislator amended the three articles in question at the time of adoption of Law No 2004-1343 of 9 December 2004 on the simplification of the law .

However, by a judgment of 14 March 2006 , the Court of Justice again found that French law did not comply with the directive. It considered that, by continuing to regard the supplier of the defective product liable in the same way as the producer, where the latter cannot be identified, whereas the supplier has indicated to the victim, within a reasonable period of time, the identity of its own supplier, the French State did not implement the measures necessary for the full enforcement of the judgment of April 25, 2002 regarding the transposition of Article 3(3) of Directive No 85/374 . To complete the transposition process, France adopted Law No 2006-406 of 5 April 2006  which rendered Articles 1386-1 et seq. of the Civil Code entirely compliant with the European text. Finally, Ordinance No 2016-131 of 10 February 2016 reforming the Civil Code recodified Articles 1386-1 et seq. to Articles 1245 et seq., which are contained under a sub-title devoted to non-contractual liability.

 Directive No 85/374 of 25 July 1985, OJEC L 210 of 7 August 1985.

  Law No 98-389 of 19 May 1998 on liability for defective products, OJ of 21 May 1998, 7744.

 Case C-177/04, Commission v France, cited above, at pt 55.

  Law No 2006-406 of 5 April 2006 on the guarantee of conformity of the goods due by the seller to the consumer and liability for defective products, OJ of 6 April 2006, 5198.

  Case C-293/91 Commission v France, Judgment of 13 January 1993 , LawLex201800000263JBJ.

  Case C-52/00 Commission v France, Judgment of 25 April 2002, LawLex200900001029JBJ.

 Case C-154/00 Commission v Greece, Judgment of 25 April 2002, LawLex200900000611JBJ.

  Case C-183/00 González Sánchez, Judgment of 25 April 2002, LawLex200900000752JBJ.

  Case C-177/04, Commission v France, Judgment of 14 March 2006, LawLex200900000732JBJ.

French Consumer Law

664. Compatibility with EU law

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

664. Compatibility with EU law

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise