‘Loi Violland’, France's anti-fast fashion law: Brussels hits the brakes again

France's ambitious ‘anti-fast-fashion law’ (Loi Violland) is in limbo. Although the French Senate approved the law in 2025, the European Commission (EC), which had already raised objections last September, vetoed it again in April. Brussels argues that the law disrupts the principles of the European single market and is discriminatory, as stated in public file 2025/0336 on the EC's website. France must suspend the adoption of the law until at least the end of 2026.

E-commerce directive and DSA

The main stumbling block for the Commission is the conflict with the e-commerce directive and the Digital Services Act (DSA). The e-commerce directive (2000/31/EC) operates on the country-of-origin principle. This means that service providers, including e-commerce sites, are only subject to the regulations of the member state where they are established, not those of the country where the consumer resides. By attempting to ban advertisements from companies like Shein (whose headquarters are in Ireland), France is imposing its own national rules on a business that officially falls under Irish law.

The DSA is a set of European regulations designed to combat illegal online content uniformly across the EU to protect consumers. France proposes a specific approach where e-commerce sites must display additional information next to the price, including a warning about the fast-fashion nature and the origin of the products. The Commission states that the DSA was created to reduce administrative burdens and fears that more member states will introduce similar national rules.

Finally, the European Commission has reservations about the planned penalty for brands like Shein, which would increase from 5 to 10 euros per garment by 2030. The opposition specifically targets the tax on small parcels (‘les petits colis’), which has been added as an extra component to the law. Brussels fears this French levy will interfere with the planned EU-wide customs reforms of 2028.

Future of the ‘Loi Violland’

To save the law, environmental organisation Refashion was tasked with formulating objective criteria for ultra-fast fashion based on production volumes and sustainability efforts. The yet-to-be-published outcome of this research is crucial for the Commission's next steps.

The future of the ‘Loi Violland’ now lies with a conciliation committee (CMP), which must reconcile French ambitions with the demands from Brussels. It is likely that components such as the advertising ban and the tax on small parcels will have to be scrapped to gain European approval. The fashion sector remains in uncertainty for now, while the political ‘telenovela’ – as the battle on LinkedIn is now being called – between Paris and Brussels continues.

“This law needs approval from Brussels,” states Baptiste Carriere-Pradal, an expert at 2B Policy, on LinkedIn. He sees opportunities for France to amend the original bill to meet the EC's requirements. For instance, the system of penalising 'bad' producers and rewarding 'good' ones could be removed. “For now, however, France and the European Commission are not on the same page.”

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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