Exclusive distribution: The Paris Court of Appeal considers that it is up to the distributor, who complains of a breach of the obligation of good faith as well as of an abuse in the fixing of the price by the supplier, to prove the impossibility to practice competitive prices (Willy / Total Marketing France)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. In a decision rendered on March 17, 2021, the Paris Court of Appeal returned to the delicate issue of the obligation to enable its distributors to charge competitive prices. The case, which is reminiscent of the famous Huard decision (Cass. com. Nov. 3, 1992, No. 90-18547), opposed a supplier of petroleum products to one of its resellers. The supplier had organised its distribution through a network of service stations operated by commission agents and independent resellers. The commission agents sold the fuel in the name and on behalf of the supplier, who set the price. The independent resellers entered into an exclusive supply agreement with the supplier