FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Diane Bandon-Tourret and Agathe Clarac, LexCase
2. Product Liability 2.1 Product Liability Causes of Action and
measures requiring adaptation of French law, in par - ticular the higher penalties for product recalls now pro - vided for in Article L. 452-5-1 of the Consumer Code (five years’ imprisonment and a fine of EUR600,000, which may be increased to 10% of the average annual turnover of the operator in question). The operator may also be penalised for misleading commercial practices, in which case the fine will be increased to 50% of the expenses incurred by the practice constituting the offence (Article L. 132-2 of the Consumer Code). Article L. 521-1 et seq of the French Consumer Code lay down specific obligations in terms of measures taken by the DGCCRF to protect consumer safety. The DGCCRF may issue injunctions, accompanied by a daily fine of up to EUR3,000 (Article L. 521-1 of the Consumer Code), or a one-year marketing suspension in the event of serious or immediate danger (Article L. 521-17 of the Consumer Code), which may be publi - cised. The total amount requested to pay the penalty may not exceed EUR300,000. Where the infringement is punishable by a fine of at least EUR75,000, the periodic penalty payment ordered in application of this article may be deter - mined on the basis of the worldwide turnover exclud - ing tax achieved by the controlled legal entity during its last financial year, but may not exceed 0.1% of this turnover. The total of the sums requested for the liquidation of the periodic penalty payment may not exceed 5% of the worldwide pre-tax turnover for the last financial year for which the accounts have been closed. More severe measures can also be taken in particular police decisions, following a procedure described in Article L. 521-1 et seq of the French Consumer Code. Specific measures are detailed for establishments and products (Articles L. 521-5 to L. 521-18) and services (Articles L. 521-19 to L. 521-26).
Sources of Law Product Liability
This regime is covered by Article 1245-1 et seq of the Civil Code, which transposes Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states concerning liability for defec - tive products. This is the so-called objective liability regime, under which the producer is liable for damage caused by a defect in his/her product, whether or not he/she is bound by a contract with the victim. A producer, when acting in a professional capacity, is the manufacturer of a finished product, the producer of a raw material or the manufacturer of a component part. Any person acting in a professional capacity is deemed to be a producer: • who presents himself/herself as a producer by affixing his/her name, trade mark or other distinc - tive sign to the product; and • who imports a product into the European Com - munity with a view to sale, hire – with or without a promise to sell – or engage in any other form of distribution. If the producer cannot be identified, liability lies with: • the seller; • the lessor, with the exception of the finance lessor or the lessor assimilated to the finance lessor; or • any other professional supplier. These intermediaries are then liable for the product under the same conditions as the producer or assimi - lated producer itself, unless the intermediary desig - nates his/her own supplier or the producer, within a period of three months from the date on which the victim’s claim was notified to him/her. The CJEU ruling of 19 December 2024 ( Ford Italia v ZP ) has recently extended the concept of “person presenting himself as the producer”, whose liability
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