It took a little over a year for the law on the regulation of commercial influence – adopted on June 9, 2023 – to be the subject of a draft ordinance notified to the European Commission. As the Union des Marques indicates on its site, this draft order aims “ to bring the commercial influence law into compliance with various European texts including the DSA [Digital Service Act] », one of the major projects for regulating the digital space at European level in which Arcom, the DGCCRF and the CNIL cooperate.
The November 6, the ordinance revising the law was thus adopted. The order thus provides clarification, particularly with regard to the provisions governing the display of commercial intent. Among the main modifications, other terms equivalent to the mentions “advertising” and “commercial collaboration” may be used if they respect “ the characteristics of the influencing activity and the format of the communication medium used “. Also, European content creators will not be systematically subject to French law. The law will now apply to influencers established in France or outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It is also planned to bring the provisions on the display of commercial intent (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive of 2005) into compliance with European law.
A ratification bill must be submitted to Parliament within three months.
What about the status of information creators?
On the UMICC side, the federation was received by its supervisory ministry, the Ministry of Culture. The future construction site? Work on the status of content creators “ cultural and information creators. We too often equate creators with their marketing influence or their relationship with brands, but they are above all creative professions, and they must be recognized as such in the cultural and media landscape. », lamented Bénédicte de Kersauson, general delegate of the UMICC, in a LinkedIn post published on November 9.
As a reminder, the DGCCRF monitored more than 300 influencers in 2022 and 2023 on social networks. Nearly half do not correctly display the commercial nature of their publications, make misleading claims or promote prohibited products or services, according to the latest annual report from the DGCCRF, published last April.
