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

Intermediaries who canvass customers for an undertaking with the aim of selling the products of that undertaking are sales representatives (VRPs - Voyageurs Représentants Placiers). Canvassing takes place either on the spot or at other places during roadshows . Sales representatives are subject to legal and conventional rules derived from the Labor Code (Labor Code, Article L. 7311-1 et seq., L. 7 …

Definition.

Intermediaries who canvass customers for an undertaking with the aim of selling the products of that undertaking are sales representatives (VRPs - Voyageurs Représentants Placiers). Canvassing takes place either on the spot or at other places during roadshows . Sales representatives are subject to legal and conventional rules derived from the Labor Code (Labor Code, Article L. 7311-1 et seq., L. 7312-1 et seq., L. 7313-1 et seq.) and the national inter-professional agreement of 3 October 1975 (Accord National Interprofessionnel or ANI). The provisions of the Commercial Code relating to the consolidation of commercial professions also apply to sales representatives (Labor Code, Article L. 7312-1).

Unless otherwise provided for in the contract or where the contract is silent, any agreement whose object is representation concluded between a sales representative and an employer is presumed to be a contract of employment governed by the provisions of the Labor Code (Labor Code, Article L. 7313-1). The presumption applies even in the absence of any clause prohibiting the sales representative from carrying out another profession (see No 9.03) or personal commercial operations (see No 9.04) (Labor Code, Article L. 7313-2). The employment contract does not have to be in writing: any person carrying out an activity of representation is presumed to be a sales representative (Labor Code, Article L. 7313-3).

The status of sales representatives gives a number of advantages to the representative: goodwill indemnity (indemnité de clientèle - Labor Code, Article L. 7313-13), special and conventional (by collective bargaining) severance compensation (ANI, Articles 13 and 14), financial consideration for the non-compete clause (ANI, Article 17).

Pursuant to Article L. 7311-3 of the Labor Code, to be described as sales representative, a person should:

- work on behalf of one or more employers;

- carry out de facto a profession of representative in an exclusive and permanent manner;

- carry out no commercial transaction for his personal account;

- be bound to the employer by undertakings that determine: the nature of services or goods for sale or purchase; the region in which he carries out his activity or the categories of customers with whom he must visit; the rate of remuneration.

The status of sales representatives gives a number of advantages to the representative: goodwill indemnity (indemnité de clientèle - Labor Code, Article L. 7313-13), special and conventional (by collective bargaining) severance compensation (ANI, Articles 13 and 14), financial consideration for the non-compete clause (ANI, Article 17). agreement if the status corresponds to the effective conditions of the activity carried out by the employee . Thus, a door-to-door insurance salesperson may benefit from the status of sales representative where the legal conditions are met . On the other hand, this is not the case for home-based sales undertakings  or a real estate negotiator with VRP status . When challenging the  classification, it is for the employee to show that the legal conditions to qualify as a sales representative stipulated in the employment contract are not met . By contrast, no clause may undermine the application to the sales representative of provisions relating to his status (Labor Code, Article L. 7313-4) which is a matter of public policy .

CA Versailles, 9 April 1998, LawLex200200004300JBJ.

See, inter alia, Cass. soc., 21 February 2007, LawLex200700000228JBJ; 13 June 2012, LawLex201200000906JBJ; 11 December 2013, LawLex201300001817JBJ and 11 October 2017, LawLex201700001645JBJ, restating that regardless of his or her allocated tasks, an employee may rely on the status of VRP where this is contractually acknowledged and no amendment has been added contradicting it.

Cass. soc., 17 December 2000, LawLex200200004456JBJ.

Cass. soc., 19 January 1994, LawLex200200006040JBJ.

Cass. soc., 30 September 2020, LawLex202000002209JBJ.

Cass. soc., 3 July 2019, LawLex201900000894JBJ.

Cass. soc., 12 April 1995, LawLex200200006086JBJ.

French Distribution Law

571. Definition.

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571. Definition.

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