State subsidy: The French State Council rules that the contracts to procure street equipment are public procurement contracts, even if the public agency does not pay the service to its contractor (Decaux)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. – CE, Ass. 4 November 2005, Société Jean-Claude Decaux, n° 247298 and n° 247299 The street furniture market: a highly contested market The commented judgment, which groups together two similar cases, will undoubtedly put an end - hopefully definitively - to the long-standing discussion on the legal nature and regime applicable to so-called "street furniture" contracts. The purpose of these contracts, entered into by the municipalities, is to authorise the partners of the administration to install, operate and maintain street furniture (bus shelters, telephone booths, information panels, advertising billboards, etc.) on the outbuildings in the public domain,