This book provides a wide-ranging review of the European rules relating to distribution: exclusive purchase and exclusive supply, exclusive and selective distribution, motor vehicle distribution, franchises, commercial agents.

French Distribution Law

The selection of distributors may depend on their professional qualifications or those of their staff. This qualitative criterion is accepted by the competition authorities . Skills required may either concern the sale of the contract goods or the services attached to such goods, i.e. installation, maintenance or repairs. The skills required are technical for high-tech goods and commercial for lux …

Qualified staff.

The selection of distributors may depend on their professional qualifications or those of their staff. This qualitative criterion is accepted by the competition authorities . Skills required may either concern the sale of the contract goods or the services attached to such goods, i.e. installation, maintenance or repairs. The skills required are technical for high-tech goods and commercial for luxury goods. In any event, the factors taken into consideration for selection on the basis of professional qualification must be specified . Requirements regarding the professional qualification of staff and the quality of facilities are in principle qualitative criteria .

Entry to or maintenance in a selective distribution network frequently requires the reseller and its staff to attend training sessions organized by the manufacturer . Authorization can also sometimes be subject to the holding of a diploma or degree . The object of the condition is so retailers can advise customers  or ensure after-sale services and carry out repairs . The distributor's professional skill is assessed in relation to the needs of the consumer and requirements must not go beyond what is necessary for an appropriate distribution of the goods. Thus, imposing a status of retail pharmacist on the distributor to distribute perfumery cosmetics is excessive in relation to the mere requirement of being a pharmacy graduate and amounts to indirectly fixing a quantitative criterion by reason of a quantitative ceiling applied to that profession . By contrast, the criterion which relies on a turnover/available qualified persons ratio is not disputable insofar as the availability of advice is essential for personal care products having a luxury image and that criterion corresponds to the needs of an appropriate distribution for that type of product .

The authorization depends on the maintenance of an appropriate level of qualification and where the distributor does not fulfill its contractual obligation in this respect, the termination of a selective distribution contract for luxury goods is justified .

CA Versailles, 4 March 1987, LawLex200500004066JBJ; CA Paris, 26 June 1991, LawLex200200003156JBJ; CA Paris, 10 January 1991, LawLex200200003026JBJ; CA Paris, 24 November 2000, LawLex200200005327JBJ. See, also, under EU law: Commission Decision No 76/159/EEC of 15 December 1975, SABA, LawLex200400002389JBJ; Case 26/76 Metro v Commission ECR I-1875, LawLex200200004119JBJ; Case 31/80 L'Oréal v De Nieuwe AMCK [1980] ECR 3775, LawLex200400002967JBJ; Commission Decision No 82/267/EEC of 6 January 1982, AEG-Telefunken, LawLex200500004107JBJ; No 83/610/EEC of 5 December 1983, Murat, LawLex200400002426JBJ; No 84/233/EEC of 18 April 1984, IBM personal computer, LawLex200500005320JBJ; Case 243/83 Binon v AMP [1985] ECR 2015, LawLex200500004001JBJ; Commission Decision No 85/404/EEC of 10 July 1985, Grundig's EEC distribution system, LawLex200700001346JBJ; No 85/616/EEC of 16 December 1985, Villeroy & Boch, LawLex200400002436JBJ; Commission Decision No 92/33/EC of 16 December 1991, Yves Saint Laurent Parfums, LawLex200500005352JBJ.

Competition Council decision No 89-D-43 of 5 September 1989, LawLex200200002448JBJ, and on appeal, CA Paris, 7 June 1990, LawLex200200002668JBJ. 

Competition Council decision No 96-D-57 of 1 October 1996, LawLex200200002855JBJ. 

Commission Decision No 84/233/EEC of 18 April 1984, IBM personal computer, LawLex200500005320JBJ; No 92/33/EC of 16 December 1991, LawLex200500005352JBJ.

Competition Council decision No 96-D-57 of 1 October 1996, LawLex200200002855JBJ. See, also, under EU law: Commission Decision No 91/153/EEC of 11 January 1991, Vichy, LawLex200400002462JBJ; Case T-19/92 Leclerc v Commission [1996] ECR II-1851, LawLex200500003930JBJ and Case T-88/92 Leclerc v Commission [1996] ECR II-1961, LawLex200500003933JBJ.

Commission Decision No 92/33/EC of 16 December 1991, Yves Saint Laurent Parfums, LawLex200500005352JBJ; No 84/233/EEC of 18 April 1984, IBM personal computer, LawLex200500005320JBJ; Case 26/76 Metro v Commission ECR I-1875, LawLex200200004119JBJ.

CA Paris, 10 January 1991, LawLex200200003026JBJ. See, also, under EU law: Commission Decision No 77/100/EEC of 21 December 1976, Junghans, LawLex200400003544JBJ.

Commission Decision No 91/153/EEC of 11 January 1991, Vichy, LawLex200400002462JBJ.

CA Versailles, 16 May 2002, LawLex200200004233JBJ.

CA Paris, 28 January 2000, LawLex200300002694JBJ.

Acceptance in the network may be subject to the distributor's capacity to provide customer services as long as that criterion is applied objectively . In this context, opening hours are sometimes imposed on distributors to ensure the best distribution of the contract goods. These hours have been defined, inter alia, by reference to “customary opening hours” for this type of store in the region in question . Under EU law, it has been held that a supplier could legitimately refuse to authorize a distributor who opened its store only on Saturday mornings and on the other working days from 4 to 6 p.m. .

The choice of resellers may be dictated by the wish to organize an efficient after-sale service . A distributor may therefore have to ensure the service itself  or, at least, resort to a specialized service selected by the manufacturer . These obligations are the corollary to the “manufacturer guarantee” obligation that the distributor owes to consumers, which can include the recuperation of old equipment .

CA Paris, 11 October 2000, LawLex200200005325JBJ: a manufacturer which resorts to a selective distribution network can refuse to authorize former resellers who do not meet the requirement of entrance contained in the general sales terms, where those terms are sufficiently described to allow an objective application. See, also, under EU law: Commission Decision No 76/159/EEC of 15 December 1975, SABA, LawLex200400002389JBJ.

CA Paris, 10 January 1991, LawLex200200003026JBJ.

Case 210/81, Demo-Studio Schmidt [1983] ECR 3045, LawLex200500003904JBJ: the refusal of an authorization based upon a failure to respect the condition that the shop be open during normal business hours, which is imposed on all the members of the selective distribution network, is not contrary to Article 101 TFEU.

Cass. crim., 13 July 1961; CA Colmar, 10 February 1983; 14 November 1983; CA Paris, 28 January 1988, LawLex200200002658JBJ; and on appeal: Cass. com., 25 April 1989, LawLex200200002659JBJ: the selection criteria contained in a distribution contract of luxury clocks and watches relating to the specialized character of the reselling establishment, to training of sales staff and repair and the way the goods are displayed are not discriminatory since they are essential for the reputation of the brand. See, also, under EU law: Commission Decision No 75/73/EEC of 13 December 1974, Bayerische Motoren Werke, LawLex200700001839JBJ.

Commission Decision No 85/404/EEC of 10 July 1985, Grundig's EEC distribution system, LawLex200700001346JBJ.

Commission Decision No 83/672/EEC of 21 December 1983, SABA's EEC distribution system, LawLex200500004100JBJ.

CA Paris, 13 January 2016, LawLex201600000070JBJ.

French Distribution Law

203. Qualified staff.

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Les notions juridiques connexes

203. Qualified staff.

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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