On 3 July 2025, the Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes issued a formal injunction against Booking.com B.V. The action requires the company to revise its General Terms of Service (conditions générales de prestations, CGP) to adhere to both European Union regulations and the French Commercial Code. The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) found that Booking.com’s contracts contain “manifestly unbalanced clauses” (clauses manifestement déséquilibrées) that are harmful to French hoteliers. The company has until 31 December 2025, to achieve compliance. Failure to do so by 1 January 2026, will incur a daily financial penalty, potentially amounting to €69.35 million. The injunction underscores significant imbalances in contractual obligations and a failure to meet the transparency and fairness standards mandated by EU Regulation 2019/1150 (the P2B Regulation).
The DGCCRF’s action is based on specific failures by Booking.com to adhere to key provisions of European and French commercial law designed to protect business users of online platforms.
- VIOLATIONS OF EU REGULATION 2019/1150 (P2B)
The P2B Regulation sets a framework for transparency and fairness in platform-to-business relationships. The DGCCRF’s notice suggests that Booking.com’s terms are lacking in several crucial areas mandated by this regulation:
Clarity and Accessibility of Terms: Platforms must ensure their general conditions are written clearly and are easy for their business users to access.
Ranking Parameters: Platforms are required to transparently describe the main factors that determine the ranking of goods and services on their platform and justify the relative significance of these factors.
Notification of Changes: Business users should be informed via a durable medium of any planned modifications to the general conditions. A reasonable notice period must be observed, with exceptions being strictly limited by the regulation.
Account Suspension and Termination: In cases of suspension or termination of a business user’s account, the platform has an obligation to provide a statement of reasons on a durable medium before the action takes effect.
Ancillary Distribution Channels: Platforms must disclose information regarding any additional distribution channels or potential affiliate programmes through which they might promote the goods and services of their business users.
Mediation Costs: When mediation occurs, the costs should be fairly shared between the parties, in accordance with the mediator’s recommendation.
- VIOLATIONS OF THE FRENCH COMMERCIAL CODE
The injunction specifically references French law that prohibits the imposition of significantly unbalanced contractual obligations.
Article L. 442-1, I, 2°: This article of the Commercial Code explicitly forbids any party from submitting or attempting to submit a commercial partner to obligations that create a “significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties.”
Infringement of Commercial and Pricing Freedom: The DGCCRF document states that hindering the commercial and pricing freedom of hoteliers is a direct contravention of this article. This suggests that Booking.com’s contractual terms improperly restrict the ability of hoteliers to set their own prices and commercial strategies.
Carlos Torres
