French government economic think tank leader Jacques Attali is suggesting that France lift 30-year-old retail planning controls and revoke laws banning below-cost selling.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Attali’s team is recommending that President Nicolas Sarkozy draw a line under regulations outlawing below-cost selling, introduced in 1997 by Business Minister Yves Galland, which the commission believes would result in a drop of between 2% and 4% in retail prices, while creating up to 1m retail and foodservice jobs.
Today’s proposals represent a boon to multiple retailers. Earlier last year, the law was ammended to include year-end discounting as part of the below-cost selling calculation. The intention was to protect SMEs, which make up around 85% of the French food industry.
Earlier this year, President Sarkozy asked the 40-strong team of academics and experts to make recommendations to change the face of the French retail economy, with the aim of improving market efficiency.

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData