FRANCE Trends and Developments Contributed by: François-Xavier Awatar and Lina Lahlou, Osborne Clarke
es experienced significant growth in the number of outlets in 2025. Certain sectors require the obtaining of specific approvals or professional licences – for example, in the field of real estate agencies. The franchisor must therefore ensure that its franchisees are able to obtain such authorisations. Franchisee Candidates in France The franchise model has a long future ahead in France, as the average age of franchisees is 35 years. The model therefore remains highly attractive. By way of illustration, 76% of franchisees are former employees who have undergone a career change. Launching a franchise thus presents an opportunity to replicate commercial success while benefiting from an already proven concept. In this respect, the challenge for the franchisor lies, on the one hand, in the need to provide the franchisee with adequate training and assistance so that a can - didate without prior experience can succeed. On the other hand, the franchisee’s former status as an employee must not give rise to a relationship of subor - dination between the franchisor and its franchisees, at the risk of having the franchise agreement reclassified as a branch management contract. Such reclassifica - tion would trigger the application of employment law. The Role of the French Franchise Federation For a franchisor seeking to expand into France, the French Franchise Federation ( Fédération Française de la Franchise , or FFF) is a key stakeholder. This profes - sional organisation serves as a liaison between public authorities and franchisors and franchisees. It brings together nearly 200 member brands and plays an important role in establishing the credibility of a net - work. Indeed, membership of the FFF requires adher - ence to the European Code of Ethics for Franchising, which is founded on principles of fairness and good conduct within franchise networks. The franchisor thereby undertakes to annex this Code to its fran - chise agreements and to comply with its provisions. Prospective franchisees view such membership as a mark of trust and legitimacy.
The FFF also supports its members by offering training programmes, among other services. It further organ - ises the Franchise Expo trade fair in Paris, which con - stitutes one of the leading European franchise events and the largest franchise-related event worldwide. The Franchise Expo provides significant visibility – par - ticularly with respect to prospective franchisees – for foreign franchisors seeking to expand into France. The Doubin Law Framework The requirement to provide a pre-contractual dis - closure document imposed by the Doubin Law is sometimes perceived as a burden. This is because it requires substantial preparatory work and the compi - lation of numerous documents. Moreover, an incom - plete or inaccurate pre-contractual disclosure docu - ment exposes the franchisor to liability. Nevertheless, the pre-contractual disclosure docu - ment can serve as a genuine recruitment and attrac - tiveness tool, as it sets out the identity of the network in detail. Furthermore, a franchise relationship must be stable and sustainable. The pre-contractual disclosure docu - ment therefore enables the parties to address, at the outset, all necessary matters – such as the identity and composition of the network, the state of the mar - ket and the terms contemplated in the agreement. This framework encourages the candidate to carefully examine its project, thereby improving the franchisor’s recruitment process. In addition, given the breadth of information contained in this document, it helps to avoid unspoken issues by addressing as many topics as possible, thereby limiting the emergence of dis - putes during the contractual relationship. Finally, the provision of a comprehensive pre-contrac - tual disclosure document limits the risk of the agree - ment being challenged on the grounds of vitiated consent. Franchise Law in France In France, franchise law is governed by the general law of contracts. However, owing to the significant development of the franchise market in France, case law in the field of franchising is extensive and covers numerous aspects (testing of know-how, duty to pro -
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