Ordinance No. 2015-1033 of August 20, 2015 transposes into French law Directive 2013/11/EU on the out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes. A new title, entitled "mediation of consumer disputes" is thus added to Book 1 of the Consumer Code.
Scope
This ordinance is intended to apply to all disputes between a consumer and a professional, including cross-border disputes (Art. L.156-4 of the Consumer Code). However, disputes concerning a service of general non-economic interest, health services provided by health professionals to assess, maintain or restore the patient's state of health, and public providers of higher education ( Article L.151-4 of the Consumer Code).
Obligations of professionals
Professionals must guarantee the consumer effective recourse to a free mediation system (Art. L.152-1 of the Consumer Code).
It is nevertheless forbidden for the professional to impose the use of mediation prior to referral to the judge (Art. L.152-4 of the Consumer Code). Professionals must communicate to consumers the contact details of the competent mediator(s), including when the dispute could not be settled in the context of a complaint. The professional can set up his own mediation system or use a mediator who meets certain requirements.
In the absence of information, the professional is liable to a fine of a maximum amount of 3,000 euros for a natural person and 15,000 euros for a legal person.
The terms of implementation of the mediation process were the subject of a subsequent decree, professionals then had a period of two months from the publication of this decree, i.e. until December 31, 2015, to comply with these provisions.
