Abrogation of the Royer Law

This law dates back from December, 27th 1973, and was created in order to protect little shops from big retailing firms, that had to meet different criteria to get the right to expand or create new buildings. They had to ask for an authorization if the retailing surface was over 1000 square meters in a city of less than 40 000 inhabitants (1 500 sqm for more than 40 000 people). Since 1996, retailing companies had to ask for this authorization at the “Commission départementale d’équipement commercial”.

The 205th proposal of the Attali Report proposes to abrogate this law. Brussels considers that it hinters free installation. The government first thought about it last summer as part of the law for the modernization of economy, but it lat retailing companies do all they wanted. So the parliament stopped it, and thought about it again in October.

UMP (right wing French Party) MP Jean-Paul Charié was charged by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to write a report that could end up into a law. This law should be abrogated little by little, according to the publication by each department of a document of commercial activities orientation. The opening of new shops would only depend on urbanism, with building permits.