The Autorité de la concurrence issues its opinion of 31 July 2025 on the assessment and outlook of the 2015 reform of the conditions of establishment and regulated rates for certain legal professions

On the 10^th anniversary of French law 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for Growth, Activity and Equal Economic Opportunities (hereinafter the “Law for Growth and Activity”), the Autorité started inquiries ex officio on 10 October 2024 in order to assess the reforms of freedom of establishment and rates, which have profoundly changed the legal framework applicable to the regulated legal professions.

In the opinion, the Autorité has made both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of both aspects of the reform.

The reforms introduced by the Law for Growth and Activity have produced mixed results, with an overall positive impact on freedom of establishment but a more mixed impact on the regulation of rates. In some respects, the legislator’s objectives cannot be considered to have been achieved.

With regard to freedom of establishment, the objectives set by the reform to increase the service offering and to encourage women and young graduates to enter the profession, while preserving the geographic coverage and economic viability of the offices set up prior to the reform, have on the whole been achieved. The Autorité notes, however, that offices set up by notaries and commissioners of justice in the context of freedom of establishment become profitable after between three and five years in business, meaning some offices set up during the most recent waves of establishment are still experiencing economic difficulties.

As concerns the regulation of rates, the picture is more nuanced. There are still uncertainties about the method for revising rates, and the rate reductions introduced do not appear to be sufficient to bring rates into line with costs, as envisaged by the Law for Growth and Activity. In response to the findings, the Autorité makes a number of recommendations aimed at improving the current system, and also suggests that ways of enabling each profession to achieve the profitability target of 20% set by the French Commercial Code (Code de commerce) should be explored, starting from much higher levels for certain professions.

Recommendation no. 1: to limit errors, improve the accuracy of the data mentioned in the table in Section I of Annex 4-2 of Article A. 444-203 of the French Commercial Code

The Autorité recommends the French government should:

- specify the relevant box(es) on the tax form for turnover (line K) and income (line N);

- make explicit reference to the definitions of emolument and fee set out in paragraphs 2 and 5 of Article R. 444-1 of the French Commercial Code (lines M1 and M2).

Recommendation no. 2: require the relevant professional associations to verify emoluments and fees

The Autorité recommends the French government should require the relevant professional associations to verify, prior to submission, that turnover is equal to the breakdown between fees and emoluments. Any data transmitted with a discrepancy should be justified.

Recommendation no. 3: encourage the use of median metrics

The Autorité recommends that, in addition to or as an alternative to the average metrics currently used, the French government should encourage the use of median values by professional, in particular in the analysis that feeds into rate revisions.

Recommendation no. 18: include a breakdown by category or subcategory of services into the annual data transmission

The Autorité recommends the French government should include in the annual data transmission provided for in Article A. 444-203 of the French Commercial Code, a breakdown of data at least by category or sub-category of services referred to in the various tables in Annex 4-7 of the regulatory part of the French Commercial Code.

Recommendation no. 20: amend Annex 4-2 of Article A. 444-203 of the French Commercial Code

The Autorité recommends the French government should amend Article A. 444-203 of the French Commercial Code and Annex 4-2, with a view to providing the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) with annual data with which to better assess the impact of discounts on the regulated rates of notaries, commissioners of justice and avocats à la cour (in France, lawyers registered with a bar association in a region with an appeal court).

Recommendation no. 24: incorporate into Article A. 444-203 and Annex 4-2 of the French Commercial Code the transmission of data on the costs incurred by offices

The Autorité recommends that data on the costs incurred by offices should be transmitted to the Autorité, such as data on personnel costs, operating costs (from intermediate expenses such as payments for services, supplies and external charges), as well as annual fixed costs (such as depreciation/amortisation, rent or set-up costs).

The information could be incorporated into the data transmission provided for in Article A. 444-203 of the French Commercial Code.

Recommendation no. 4: extend the duration and scope of the term of the qualified members of the Board of the Autorité appointed in accordance with Articles L. 462-4-1 and L. 462-4-2 of the French Commercial Code

The Autorité recommends the duration of the term of the members of its Board appointed for their expertise in freedom of establishment should be extended to five years, renewable once.

It also recommends the scope of their term should be extended to all matters on which the Autorité deliberates in its advisory capacity in respect of the legal professions referred to in Article L. 444-1 of the French Commercial Code.

Recommendation no. 5: extend freedom of establishment, as provided for in the Law for Growth and Activity, to Alsace-Moselle

The Autorité recommends the provisions on freedom of establishment should be harmonised throughout France and that Alsace-Moselle should therefore be included in the system.

Recommendation no. 6: ease the conditions of aptitude and training for notaries in Alsace-Moselle to encourage candidate notaries from the rest of France to set up there

The Autorité recommends the conditions of aptitude and training applicable to notaries and commissioners of justice should be harmonised by, on the one hand, abolishing the requirement for trainee notaries to complete at least two years’ training in an office located within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal of Colmar or Metz and, on the other hand, replacing the local law competitive examination with a special local law test as part of the professional examination. This recommendation is in line with the recommendation made by the General Inspection of Justice.

Recommendation no. 7: reduce the frequency of opinions to five years

The Autorité recommends the frequency of its opinions should be reduced to five years, while retaining the possibility to start inquiries ex officio or at the request of the French government in the event of a change in circumstances likely to suddenly alter the economic situation of offices.

Recommendation no. 8: continue to issue decrees of appointment within two years of the draw

If recommendation 7 is accepted, the Autorité recommends that decrees of appointment should still be issued within two years of the draw.

Recommendation no. 9: promote greater transparency in the implementation of the compulsory voluntary contribution (CVO)

The Autorité recommends the French Superior Council of Notaries (Conseil supérieur du notariat – CSN) should increase transparency in the allocation of sums from the compulsory voluntary contribution (CVO), by presenting aid for existing professionals that have already established their offices and new professionals that are in the process of establishing their offices separately.

Recommendation no. 10: introduce a regulatory framework for the allocation of sums collected under the compulsory voluntary contribution (CVO)

The Autorité recommends the French government should introduce a strict and clear regulatory framework for the compulsory voluntary contribution (CVO), setting out the specific forms of authorised aid, the fair distribution of sums between aid for existing professionals that have already established their offices and new professionals that are in the process of establishing their offices, and the obligation for the Minister of Justice to determine by decree the geographic areas eligible for aid.

Recommendation no. 11: modify the scope of the legal monopoly of notaries

The Autorité reiterates its 2015 recommendation to abolish the legal requirement for authentication of commercial leases for drink outlets, transferable rural leases, receipts and transfers of an amount equivalent to three years’ rent or farm rent not yet due on leases of less than 12 years, specifications for real estate sales and inventories, transfers of agricultural operations in the event of transfer loans, and the competition of sales of shares in companies mainly dealing in real estate.

Recommendation no. 12: modify the rules of professional conduct for notaries on subcontracting

In order to bring French regulations into line with the case law to date of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and to stimulate competition within the market for subcontracting the drafting of notarial deeds and the notarial profession as a whole, the Autorité recommends the ban on subcontracting the drafting of notarial deeds should be removed from the rules of professional conduct for notaries^[3]. 

Recommendation no. 13: adapt the exceptional access routes to the profession of lawyer at the French Administrative Supreme Court and the French Supreme Court

The Autorité reiterates the recommendation made in Opinion 25-A-06 to make the conditions for accessing the profession more flexible for associates of lawyers at the French Administrative Supreme Court and the French Supreme Court who meet the experience requirements, by exempting them from the CAPAC qualification to become a lawyer at the French Administrative Supreme Court and the French Supreme Court, subject, for example, to passing an oral examination to test their knowledge of professional ethics and regulations, as well as cassation techniques.

Recommendation no. 14: clarify the wording of Article R. 444-5 of the French Commercial Code on the method for revising rates based on relevant costs and reasonable remuneration

The Autorité recommends the French government should clarify the method for determining rate revisions as set out in Article R. 444-5 of the Commercial Code, based on relevant costs and reasonable remuneration.

Recommendation no. 15: set the average margin objective at no more than 32%

The Autorité reminds the French government that, according to the method set out in Article R. 444-7 of the French Commercial Code, the average margin objective set at the time of a rate revision must not exceed 32%.

Recommendation no. 16: specify how the four criteria listed in Section II of Article R. 444-7 of the French Commercial Code must be taken into account

The Autorité recommends the French government should clarify the wording of the four criteria listed in Section II of Article R. 444-7 of the French Commercial Code for determining the average margin objective, in order to:

- with regard to the first criterion, specify how and to what extent the size of the difference between the regulated margin and the 20% reference rate influences, upwards or downwards, the determination of the average margin objective for the profession;

- with regard to the second criterion, specify how and to what extent data from the first three deciles influences, both upwards and downwards, the average margin objective for the profession, and how to determine the regulated profit of a profession, for example by applying to the relevant costs of the profession a coefficient that is representative of its regulated activity;

- delete the last two criteria mentioned in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Section II of Article R. 444-7 of the French Commercial Code.

Recommendation no. 17: introduce a new framework for rate reductions for professions whose regulated margin at the 3^rd decile exceeds 32%

The Autorité recommends the French government should waive the 5% limit provided for in paragraph 1 of Section III of Article R. 444-7 of the French Commercial Code, only for those professions whose regulated margin at the 3^rd decile for the last available year exceeds 32%.

Recommendation no. 19: explore the possibility of automatically reducing rates until an average reference margin of 20% is achieved

The Autorité invites the French government to proceed in two stages:

- in the first stage, conduct an in-depth study to quantify the cause-and-effect relationships between changes in rates and the repercussions thereof on the economic indicators of the professions, such as the average margin of a profession;

- in the second stage, make the reduction in rates automatic, with a view to achieving an average margin objective of 20% for each profession. In the event of exceptional circumstances, the French government may reduce the automatic revision of rates, after mandatorily obtaining an opinion from the Autorité.

Recommendation no. 21: ease the framework applicable to discounts

The Autorité recommends the French government should make the use of discounts as provided for in Articles A. 444-9, A. 444-52, A. 444-174 and A. 444-202 of the French Commercial Code more flexible, in particular with regard to the requirement for discounts to be fixed and identical, as provided for in Article L. 444-2 of the French Commercial Code.

Recommendation no. 22: abolish rates for voluntary authentic deeds

In accordance with Article L. 444-1 of the French Commercial Code, the Autorité recommends the French government should abolish the rates for deeds for which authentication is voluntary and which can be drawn up another legal professional.

Recommendation no. 23: consider changes to the territorial jurisdiction of representation

The Autorité recommends the French government should consider whether it would be appropriate to maintain the territorial jurisdiction rules applicable to postulation (which, in the French legal system, is a requirement for the parties to proceedings before a court of law to be represented by a lawyer registered with a bar association within the jurisdiction of the appeal court to which that court belongs) or, failing that, to align the rules governing representation in matters of foreclosure, division of property, auction and judicial security with those governing representation in all other matters.