Should the termination of an established commercial relationship be regulated?

Litigation relating to the abrupt termination of commercial relations continues to give rise to concern in view of the direction that case law has taken in recent years. Initially created by the Galland Act to protect the party who has been ousted when an established commercial relationship is terminated, twenty years on the application of article L. 442-6, I, 5° of the French Commercial Code has led to a number of abuses, sometimes even achieving the opposite of what the article was intended to achieve. This study, supported by various points of view, suggests a number of avenues for reflection and outlines solutions to the problems encountered by Article L. 442-6, I, 5°. In particular, the possibility of further defining the terms of the very notion of "established commercial relationship"; proposing a "checklist" of criteria for calculating the notice periods awarded; capping their duration; encouraging the multiplication of inter-professional agreements; and inserting a proposal for concepts of compatibility specific to compensation aimed at assessing the compensation for damage as accurately as possible.