FRANCE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Diane Bandon-Tourret and Agathe Clarac, LexCase
From 17 February 2024, new obligations set out in the European Digital Services Act (DSA) of 19 October 2022 will apply to online marketplaces, to ensure that: • sellers are identified; • information on products sold is more complete; and • measures to recall non-compliant or dangerous products are more effectively relayed. These obligations will be monitored by the DGGCCRF. Law No 2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on the fight against waste and the circular economy (the “Agec Law”) introduced a reparability index for several prod - uct categories, which will become a sustainability index, with additional criteria. The durability index will initially apply to televisions (from 1 October 2024) and then to washing machines (from 1 January 2025). Law No 2025-188 of 27 February 2025, aimed at pro - tecting people from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substanc - es (PFAS)-related risks, introduces, from 1 January 2025, a prohibition to import, export or commercial - ise products (such as cosmetics) containing PFAS. A schedule provides for the extension of this prohibition to other products (such as textiles) until 1 January 2030. Also, this law sets out a roadmap to eliminate industrial PFAS discharges into water. Finally, a fee will be introduced for classified facilities subject to author - isation that discharge PFAS, the amount of which will vary according to the weight of PFAS emitted per year. In December 2025, two implementing decrees clarified certain provisions of Law No 2025-188 of 27 February 2025, aimed at protecting the public from the risks associated with PFAS. • Decree No 2025-1287 of 22 December 2025 on the health and safety of water intended for human con - sumption aims notably to list the PFAS that must
be tested for as part of health inspections of water intended for human consumption. • Decree No 2025-1376 of 28 December 2025 aims to specify the procedures for implementing the prohibitions set forth in Articles L.524-1 and L.524- 2 of the Environmental Code concerning the manu - facture, import, export and placing on the market of certain products containing PFAS. Exceptions and exclusions are specified. These thresholds are intended to be revised in line with developments in European law, particularly the Registration, Evalu - ation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulations. Appropriate methodologies would be necessary for the regulation to be fully enforceable. The decree enters into force on 1 January 2026. However, a 12-month phase-out period is provid - ed: products manufactured before 1 January 2026 containing PFAS may continue to be placed on the market or exported until 31 December 2026. After this period, any placing on the market or exporta - tion will be strictly prohibited. The DADDUE law of 30 April 2025 (No 2025-391) introduces a unified system for group actions in all the fields concerned (consumer affairs, environment, personal data, discrimination, labour law), with the exception of group actions in the field of public health, which remain subject to a special system. It also introduces a civil penalty for professionals who cause serial damage by committing a lucrative fault in the course of their business (new Article 1254 of the Civil Code). Following the adoption of Directive 2024/2853 reform - ing the liability regime for defective products, member states must, in principle, transpose its provisions by 6 December 2026. As yet, it is not known when these measures will be placed on the parliamentary agenda.
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