Self-initiated
The CEPC can refer matters to itself on its own initiative — no external referral is required for it to examine a commercial practice.
4 months
The deadline within which the CEPC must deliver its opinion to a court that has consulted it — proceedings on the merits are suspended until the opinion is received or the deadline expires.
Anonymous
All documents, enquiry reports, and information collected by the CEPC are anonymised before being circulated to Commission members — protecting parties who refer sensitive commercial practices.

Who Can Refer a Matter to the CEPC

Article L 440-1, IV-al. 1 of the Code de commerce sets out an open list of referral entitlements. The CEPC can also act on its own initiative (se saisir d'office).

Government The Minister of the Economy

The minister responsible for the economy can refer any commercial practice or document falling within the CEPC's scope. This governmental referral route ensures that the Commission can be engaged on matters of macro-economic or regulatory policy concern, not just individual commercial disputes.

Government The Minister Responsible for the Relevant Sector

The minister with sectoral responsibility (agriculture, industry, digital, etc.) can also refer practices falling within their sector. This allows sector-specific commercial practices to be examined by the body best placed to analyse them in their economic context.

Regulator The President of the Autorité de la Concurrence

The president of the French competition authority can refer commercial practices to the CEPC. This creates a formal coordination mechanism between the CEPC's advisory function and the competition authority's enforcement function — the two institutions can exchange perspectives on practices that sit at the boundary of commercial law and competition law.

Private Party Any Producer, Supplier, or Reseller Who Considers Themselves Harmed

Any producer, supplier, or reseller who considers themselves harmed by a commercial practice (s'estimant lésé par une pratique commerciale) can refer the practice to the CEPC. This is the primary private-party route and requires no minimum financial threshold or prior formal step. The harm may be potential or actual.

Legal Entity Any Legal Person: Trade Bodies, Consumer Associations, Chambers

Any legal person (personne morale) can refer a matter, including professional organisations, trade unions, approved consumer associations, chambers of commerce, and chambers of agriculture. This reflects the CEPC's role as a general observatory of B2B commercial practices, not just a dispute-resolution body for individual parties.

Own Initiative The CEPC Itself

The CEPC can place matters on its own agenda without any external referral. This own-initiative power allows the Commission to address systemic or emerging commercial practices that come to its attention through its observatory function or annual report work, without waiting for a formal referral to arrive.

ℹ️
Anonymous Referrals Are Not Admissible

Despite the CEPC's strong anonymity protections (see below), anonymous referrals are expressly declared inadmissible. This applies whether the anonymity is direct or through an intermediary such as a lawyer. The referral letter must identify the author of the referral. The CEPC's anonymity framework protects the identity of the referrer from Commission members and the public — but the referrer must be known to the CEPC secretariat from the outset.

Formal Requirements for a Private Party Referral

The referral (saisine) must be made by simple letter addressed to the president of the Commission. There is no court filing, no legal representative requirement, and no fee. The letter must contain the following:

Mandatory Content of the Referral Letter (Rapport d'activité CEPC 2002-2003)
1
Identity and contact details of the referrer
Full identity and contact coordinates (coordonnées) of the person or organisation making the referral. This is the information that confirms the referral is not anonymous.
2
Object of the request for opinion
A clear statement of the commercial practice, document, or question on which the CEPC's opinion is sought. The more precisely the question is framed, the more focused and useful the resulting opinion is likely to be.
3
Legal provisions alleged to have been violated
The legal texts whose violation is alleged — for example, specific articles of the Code de commerce on commercial transparency or restrictive competition practices, or other legal provisions relevant to the practice.
4
All documents necessary for understanding the request
Any supporting documents that help the CEPC understand the practice: contracts, invoices, correspondence, commercial terms, and so on. Documents covered by business secrecy (secret des affaires) can be submitted — the CEPC's confidentiality framework protects them.
✉
Address for referrals
CEPC — 59, boulevard Vincent-Auriol, Bât. Condorcet — Télédoc 252, 75703 Paris Cedex 13. Email: cepc@finances.gouv.fr

The Anonymity Procedure

Anonymity is a cornerstone of the CEPC's design. Although referrers cannot be anonymous to the CEPC itself, the process ensures that Commission members and the public cannot identify the parties involved.

The president and vice-president of the CEPC are personally responsible for ensuring that all documents, enquiry reports, and information collected are anonymised before being circulated to the Commission (Art. D 440-11). The CEPC secretariat must remove all nominative references from documents and, where necessary, withdraw any pieces that would allow a person or company to be identified. This process applies before any material is passed to Commission members for examination.

The CEPC is physically located within the DGCCRF's premises, but it maintains a separate secretariat, which is specifically designed to guarantee the anonymity of referrals. The institutional separation of the secretariat from the broader DGCCRF structure provides an additional structural safeguard for confidentiality.

Practical Significance of the Anonymity Framework for Businesses

The anonymity framework is what makes the CEPC usable by businesses that want legal clarity on a practice without publicly revealing either that they are uncertain about the practice's legality or that they have been the subject of complaints. A supplier that suspects a major retailer's commercial terms are unlawful can seek a CEPC opinion without the retailer ever knowing the supplier made the referral — and without any public disclosure of the practice before the CEPC has had a chance to assess it. This confidential audit function is one of the CEPC's most practically valuable features for businesses navigating complex B2B commercial relationships.

Court Referrals: The Judicial Consultation Route

Courts have their own distinct route to consulting the CEPC, entirely separate from the private party referral procedure (Art. L 440-1, IV-al. 2). A court seized of a case involving commercial practices within the CEPC's scope may consult the Commission for its opinion on those practices.

How the Judicial Consultation Works — Art. L 440-1, IV-al. 2 to 4
1
Court decides to consult — discretionary, non-motivated

The decision to consult the CEPC is left to the sovereign discretion of the trial court (appréciation discrétionnaire des juges du fond). The court is not required to explain its decision to consult the Commission (Cass. com., 15 November 2023, n° 22-10.818 F-B, RJDA 2/24 n° 133). No party can require the court to seek a CEPC opinion, and no party can prevent it from doing so.

2
The decision to consult is not subject to appeal

The court's decision to consult the CEPC cannot be challenged. There is no appeal route against the referral itself (Art. L 440-1, IV-al. 3). Parties to the litigation must accept the consultation as part of the procedural framework.

3
Proceedings on the merits are suspended for up to 4 months

From the moment the CEPC is consulted, all substantive decisions in the case are suspended until the CEPC's opinion is received, or until the four-month deadline expires — whichever comes first. The court may however take urgent or conservatory measures as needed during the suspension period.

4
CEPC must deliver its opinion within 4 months

The CEPC must communicate its opinion to the referring court within four months of the referral. This is a hard deadline: if no opinion is received within four months, proceedings resume regardless.

5
Opinion is not binding; published after judgment

The CEPC's opinion does not bind the court. The court remains free to rule as it considers appropriate, with or without following the opinion's analysis. The opinion is published only after the court has rendered its decision — not before, to avoid any risk of influencing the proceedings (Art. L 440-1, IV-al. 3 and 4).

The 2023 Cour de Cassation Ruling: Court Discretion Confirmed

The Cour de cassation clarified in its November 2023 ruling (Cass. com., 15 November 2023, n° 22-10.818 F-B) that the faculty to refer a matter to the CEPC is left to the appréciation discrétionnaire of the trial court judges, and that their decision need not be motivated. This confirmation matters for parties to litigation involving commercial practices: they cannot force a court to seek a CEPC opinion, and they cannot challenge the court's decision to do so, or not to do so. The CEPC referral route in litigation is entirely within the court's own control.

Practical Guidance for Businesses on the CEPC Referral Procedure
Any business that considers itself harmed by a commercial practice of a producer, supplier, or reseller can refer the practice to the CEPC by simple letter — no legal proceedings, no court filing, no fee. The threshold for access is low.
Anonymous referrals — including those made through a lawyer without disclosing the client — are inadmissible. The referrer's identity must be provided, but it will be protected from Commission members and the public through the anonymisation procedure.
Documents covered by business secrecy (secret des affaires) can be submitted to the CEPC. The confidentiality framework applies to them equally.
If a court in litigation involving your business decides to consult the CEPC, you cannot appeal that decision and you cannot prevent it. The proceedings on the merits will be suspended for up to four months while the CEPC delivers its opinion. Urgent or conservatory measures can still be taken during this period.
The CEPC's opinion in court-referred cases is published only after the judgment — not during the proceedings. This sequence protects the independence of the court's deliberation.
From a litigation strategy perspective, the 2023 Cour de cassation ruling confirms that the CEPC referral decision is entirely within the court's discretion and need not be reasoned. Parties cannot use or resist the CEPC referral as a procedural tactic in the usual sense.
Questions About B2B Commercial Practices or the CEPC Procedure?

The CEPC referral procedure is one of several tools available to businesses operating in France's distribution chain. Understanding when and how to use it — alongside the DGCCRF, the Autorité de la concurrence, and the courts — is part of any comprehensive commercial law strategy.

Book a Consultation

This article is for general information and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Always seek qualified legal advice for your specific situation.