Press Release: Freedom of establishment: infringement procedures against France

The Commission has taken action to put an end to obstacles to freedom of establishment in France. It will formally request France to amend its rules requiring cereals traders to obtain an authorisation from an institution in which potential competitors participate, provided that they have storage capacity in France, as well as its rules requiring that traders in cereals have an address and a minimum activity in France plus the obligation to make monthly statistical declarations and to show all their commercial documents. The Commission considers that these restrictions are not compatible with freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services. The Commission will also formally request France to amend its rules on the establishment of shops. The Commission considers that the authorisation procedure is based on criteria not sufficiently objective and precise, most of them aimed at assessing the potential economic impact of the opening of a new shop, and is burdensome and unfair in that it gives a decision-making role to representatives of existing economic operators. The Commission considers that these provisions are not compatible with freedom of establishment. These formal requests take the form of “reasoned opinions”, the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.