French Constitutional Court Invalidates Key Provisions of Telephone Solicitation Law

France's Constitutional Council has ruled several clauses of the 2020 law that regulated telemarketing as unconstitutional, delaying their effect until October 31, 2027. The court’s decision follows a legal challenge by telecom operator Orange and highlights concerns over overlapping enforcement powers of ARCEP, the consumer fraud bureau (DGCCRF) and the data‑privacy regulator (CNIL).

A new law is set to be adopted by August 2026, requiring companies to obtain explicit consumer consent before any telephonic marketing call, with limited exceptions for existing contracts. The legislation also defines a list of four‑digit prefixes—such as 0162, 0163, 0270, 0271, 0377, 0378, 0424, 0425, 0568, 0569, 0948 and 0949—that identify illegal call‑center numbers. Calls from these prefixes must be blocked, and non‑compliant firms face heavy fines. An ARCEP study released in April 2024 found that 65 % of French citizens rarely answer calls from unidentified numbers, underscoring public frustration with persistent spam calls.

Consumer groups note that the Bloctel registry has lost effectiveness, prompting the popularity of community‑driven blocking apps like Orange Téléphone, which allows users to share and automatically block numbers associated with illegal telemarketing.