Editing Franchising (section)

====France====
France is one of Europe's largest markets. Similar to the United States, it has a long history of franchising, dating back to the 1930s. Growth came in the 1970s. The market is considered difficult for outside franchisors because of cultural characteristics, yet McDonald's and Century 21 are found everywhere. There are some 30 U.S. firms involved in franchising in France.<ref>{{cite web |last=Faria |first=Rose Marie |title=France Serves as a Gateway to Europe – International Franchise Association |url=http://www.franchise.org/franchise-news-detail.aspx?id=33190 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410071408/http://www.franchise.org/Franchise-News-Detail.aspx?id=33190 |archive-date=10 April 2014 |access-date=30 December 2017 |website=International Franchise Association}}</ref>

There are no government agencies regulating franchises. The Loi Doubin Law of 1989 was the first European franchise disclosure law. Combined with Decree No. 91-337, it regulates disclosure, although the decree also applies to any person who provides to another person a corporate name, trademark or trade name or other business arrangements.  The law applies to "exclusive or quasi-exclusive territory". The disclosure document must be delivered at least 20 days before the execution of the agreement or any payments are made.

The specific and important disclosures to be made are:<ref name="EUFD">{{Cite web |last=Perala |first=Jon K. |date=2007 |title=EU Franchise Disclosure |url=http://www.peralaw.com/EU_Franchise_Disclosure.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715063805/http://www.peralaw.com/EU_Franchise_Disclosure.html |archive-date=2011-07-15 |website=Perala Law Office}}</ref>

#  The date of the founding of the franchisor's enterprise and a summary of its business history and all information necessary to assess the business experience of the franchisor, including bankers,
#  A description of the local market for the goods or services,
#  The franchisor's financial statements for the previous two years,
#  A list of all other franchisees currently in the network,
#  All franchisees who have left the network during the preceding year, whether by termination or non-renewal, and
#  The conditions for renewal, assignment, termination and the scope of exclusivity.

Initially, there was some uncertainty whether any breach of the provisions of the Doubin Law would enable the franchisee to walk away from the contract.
However, the French supreme court ({{Lang|fr|Cour de cassation}}) eventually ruled that agreements should only be annulled where missing or incorrect information affected the decision of the franchisee to enter into the agreement. The burden of proof is on the franchisee.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 2009 |title=Franchise disclosure items in Europe |url=http://www.ffw.com/pdf/Franchise-disclosure-in-Europe.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710235841/http://www.ffw.com/pdf/Franchise-disclosure-in-Europe.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2011 |access-date=30 December 2017 |website=Field Fisher Waterhouse}}</ref>

Dispute settlement features are only incorporated in some European countries. By not being rigorous, franchising is encouraged.