COMPETITION • FRENCH LAW • RESTRICTIVE AGREEMENTS
The nature of the product or service, the cost of transportation, the location of operators or customers or the existence of regulatory constraints are the factors generally used to define the geographic market. The specific nature of commercial negotiations with large retailers in each country may also make it possible to define a national geographic market. However, markets that appear to be geographically distinct must be grouped together when they are interconnected or when supply and demand are divided between them.
Article L. 420-1 of the Commercial Code, which does not specify the scope of the relevant market, may apply to very limited geographic markets. A bakery market limited to a small urban area may constitute a relevant market. Similarly, relocation involving small or medium-sized individualized operations, temporary employment services resulting from the development of Olympic sites or cargo handling services, although carried out on a purely local scale, have been retained as relevant markets. On the other hand, the market for the labeling of bed and breakfasts in rural areas is national, as the label is granted by national organizations or with subsidiaries in France, covering the entire territory.
