France bans cold calling from 11 August under new consumer law — The Debate
The legislation shifts from opt-out to prior consent and carries fines of up to €375,000 per call for companies.
Cold calling is about to come to an end in France, at least in its current form. On Tuesday 11 August, a law backed by Emmanuel Macron's government will come into force, tightening the rules and banning these unsolicited nuisance calls. The aim is to protect consumers from intrusive commercial solicitations and to protect vulnerable people from fraudulent practices.
From now on it will be illegal to contact consumers without their prior consent. Consent that "can be withdrawn at any time", says Alice Vilcot, chief of staff at the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control.
However, the practice will still be allowed in two situations: when a company has already obtained your agreement, for example during a purchase, a visit to a shop or via a form, and when the call concerns a contract you have already signed.
The government says the law responds to years of consumer complaints. Authorities estimate that around three quarters of people in France receive at least one unsolicited sales call every week, and many receive more.
Content creator Micode highlights the same problem on his YouTube channel. In a lengthy investigation carried out over several months, he sheds light on how these call campaigns work, from aggressive techniques to schemes that discourage victims from taking legal action.
Back in 2024, eleven consumer organisations issued a joint call for a ban, denouncing the "relentless harassment of consumers through countless unwanted marketing calls to landlines and mobile phones, an intrusion that has become a regular part of their daily lives".
And the penalties for violating the law will be severe. Individuals may be fined up to 75,000 euros per call. Companies could face fines of up to 375,000 euros per call.
Over the past fifteen years, numerous measures have already been introduced: a ban on canvassing from mobile numbers starting with 06 or 07, as well as at certain times of the day or at weekends. But this ban applied only to a few sectors, such as the Personal Training Account, home adaptations for disability or old age, or energy-efficiency renovation. From now on, it will cover almost all sectors.
Another measure that had been introduced was signing up to a platform in order not to be contacted. "We are thus moving from an opt-out system to one based on prior consent", the finance ministry, Bercy, says with satisfaction.
But for the consumer association Que Choisir, the battle will not end there. Deprived of telephone calls, "many fraudsters will try to change the playing field and operate via door-to-door canvassing", warns its president, Marie-Amandine Stévenin. She is already calling for this practice to be regulated.
The new French law has sparked concern in Morocco, where Employment Minister Younes Sekkouri told MPs that up to 50,000 jobs were at risk in the country's call centres. He said the industry had attracted around 100 million dollars in investment and generates more than one billion dollars in annual revenue in the country.
Low labour costs, a large French-speaking workforce and relatively weak trade unions have made Morocco an attractive destination for international companies, particularly French firms seeking to reduce their costs.
Youssef Chraïbi, president of the Moroccan Outsourcing Services Federation, told local daily Le Matin that the French market has historically accounted for more than 80% of the sector's revenue. "Pure telemarketing now accounts for only 15% to 20% of total activity", he added, noting that the sector has diversified beyond traditional call centre services.
The move aligns France with a broader European trend. Germany has had a similar system in place since 2009. The Netherlands strengthened its rules on canvassing last month, banning companies from phoning their own customers with promotional offers without prior permission. The United Kingdom operates the Telephone Preference Service, with fines of up to 500,000 pounds per call for violations. For European consumers, the French law marks another step toward a continent-wide standard of prior consent over opt-out registers.