Implementation of the Representative Actions Directive in France: Confirming the Myths of the French Exception

This chapter examines the implementation of Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on representative actions in France, arguing that French collective redress has long presented more myth than reality. Since the Loi Hamon in 2014, France has constructed a fragmented, sector-specific regime characterised by restrictive standing, mandatory opt-in participation, and lack of financial sustainability. Original empirical data across over a decade of litigation confirms structural weaknesses and the extent of this failure. The article then assesses whether the 2025 reform overcomes France’s “peculiarity”. While the new regime introduces meaningful improvements, the article concludes that the enactment of the sanction civile pour faute lucrative, a deterrent mechanism aiming at neutralising illicit profits, that goes beyond the Directive’s express prohibition on punitive damages, confirms rather than dispels the French exception. France’s transposition has produced a model that remains genuinely peculiar among Member States, reflecting ongoing resistance to ordinary collective litigation. The analysis places French exceptionalism within the context of broader tensions between national procedural autonomy and EU harmonisation, contributing to comparative discussion in collective redress.