Legal Regulation of Franchising in France

On the European continent, France is the main leader in the number of franchise networks and the volume of profit from their turnover, which is due to the long history of using franchising models in this country. The legal framework for regulating franchising relations combines the norms of civil and commercial law, as well as a number of special legislative acts of public law aimed at ensuring the interests of their participants. French legislation is characterized by "soft" law, which contributes to the popularity and dynamic development of franchising. However, the complexity and versatility of franchising relations, as well as the emergence of new technological features of production and sales markets, require constant analysis and improvement of the mechanisms of legal regulation of this area of business. The purpose of the study is to analyze the legislation, doctrinal approaches and law enforcement practice in the field of franchising relations in France. The purpose of the scientific research determines its objectives: to determine the private law basis for regulating franchising relations, taking into account the reform of French legislation; to identify key problems and risks arising within the framework of franchising relations; analyze the mechanism for regulating restrictive trade practices aimed at protecting competition and market stability.

The practical significance of the study lies in determining the trends in the development of the modern system of regulatory control of franchising relations in France and the possibility of forming similar legal institutions in Russia. The work defines, firstly, the influence of general contract law on the special regulation of franchising relations; secondly, the emphasis in the legal regulation of private law relations on the pre-contractual obligations of their participants having a complex structure; thirdly, the inclusion in the norms of legislation of mechanisms aimed at balancing contractual relations such as: abuse of economic dependence, restrictive trade practices, etc. The main conclusions made in the work can contribute to the harmonization of French legislation and international cooperation, as well as contribute to a more sustainable development of franchising relations.

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