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On 8 March 2023, the French National Assembly approved a bill aiming to implement the EU Collective Redress Directive and to increase recourse to class actions (read more in our blog post), particularly in light of the perceived limited success of this collective redress mechanism in France (with only 38 class actions filed before French courts since 2014). On 7 February 2024, the French Senate introduced significant amendments to the bill, generally tightening the conditions for class actions.
In a nutshell, a comparison between the bill adopted by the National Assembly and the amendments proposed by the Senate reveals the following similarities and differences:
We set out below the main features of the two texts:
|
Bill adopted by the National Assembly in March 2023 |
Amendments adopted by the Senate in February 2024 |
|
| Legal Standing |
Non-profit certified associations (associations agréées)
Representative trade unions
Qualified entities that can bring cross-border representative actions under the EU Collective Redress Directive |
Non-profit certified associations (associations agréées), if they meet five criteria:
Representative trade unions
Qualified entities that can bring cross-border representative actions under the EU Collective Redress Directive
|
| Regime and scope |
General and unified regime that replaces the current sector-specific regimes, which provide different rules in matters relating to consumers rights, competition, housing rental, healthcare, discrimination, data protection, and environmental issues |
Unified regime replacing the current sector-specific regimes, with the exception of health-related matters and breaches of the Labour Code.
In these areas, class actions may only be filed in relation to:
|
| Relief |
Recovery of any kind of damages (under the current regimes, the recoverable damages depend on the sector-specific regime that applies) Cessation of wrongdoing |
Recovery of any kind of damages Cessation of wrongdoing |
| Prior notice | No prior notice |
4-months prior notice, under penalty of inadmissibility |
| Funding | Claimants may receive third-party funding, provided the funder does not have an economic interest in the filing or outcome of the action and is not a competitor to the defendant |
Claimants may receive third-party funding under two conditions:
|
| Adhesion to the class | Opt-in | Opt-in |
| Civil penalty | In case of a deliberate wrongdoing for a financial gain Amount of up to 3% of the annual turnover excluding taxes |
No civil penalty |
| Public Registry | Yes | Yes |
The National Assembly is set to begin its second reading of the bill in the upcoming months. The review will focus on provisions which are subject to a disagreement between the two chambers of the Parliament.
Since the Senate introduced significant amendments to the bill initially adopted by the French National Assembly, a joint commission (commission mixte paritaire), comprising 7 senators and 7 deputies, may be formed to reach a consensus.
Once the bill has been finally adopted by Parliament, it may be referred to the Constitutional Council. If the Constitutional Council approves the bill or if no referral is made, the President of the Republic will promulgate the law.