France clears the way for funded consumer group actions

France has completed the final step in implementing the EU’s Representative Actions Directive by adopting a decree that formalizes the rules governing who may bring consumer group actions and how those actions may be financed, providing long awaited clarity for collective redress in the French market.

The decree, published in the Journal Officiel on December 11, 2025, establishes a formal accreditation regime for associations and entities seeking to bring national or cross border group actions on behalf of consumers, with oversight assigned to the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control. Approved entities will receive five year authorizations, subject to renewal, ongoing reporting obligations, and potential withdrawal where statutory conditions are no longer met.

A central feature of the new framework is its treatment of third-party litigation funding. The decree requires entities bringing group actions to publicly disclose the identity of their principal funders, the scale of the financing, and the essential terms of funding arrangements, including duration, structure, and any remuneration owed to the funder. These disclosures must be made no later than the filing of the action and updated annually for the life of the proceedings, reflecting a policy focus on transparency and the prevention of conflicts of interest.

The rules apply to both domestic and cross border representative actions and are intended to operationalise Article 16 of France’s April 30, 2025 implementing legislation, which transposed Directive (EU) 2020/1828 into national law. With the decree’s entry into force on January 1, 2026, France joins a growing number of EU jurisdictions that have moved from principle to practice in enabling funded consumer group litigation.

Paul de Servigny, Head of Litigation Funding at IVO Capital, said the decree provides the certainty the market has been waiting for. “As part of the transposition of the EU’s Representative Actions Directive, the French government announced a decree that sets out the disclosure requirements for the litigation funding industry, paving the way for greater access to justice for consumers in France by providing much welcomed clarity to litigation funders, claimants and law firms,” he said. “This is good news for French consumers seeking justice and we look forward to working with government, the courts, claimants and their representatives and putting this decree into practice by supporting meritorious cases whilst ensuring that the interests of consumers are protected.”

Market participants expect the new regime to unlock a wave of mass consumer claims in areas such as competition, financial services, data protection, and product liability, positioning France as a more viable venue for large scale collective actions supported by third-party capital under a defined regulatory framework.