Commercial agency: The French Supreme Court considers that an intermediary who has no power of representation and who is not involved in determining the commercial and pricing policy of the client or who merely puts the client in contact with central purchasing agencies has no negotiating power and cannot be qualified as a commercial agent (Fructidoc / Esteban E. France...)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. In the first case (judgment of 27 Jan. 2021), a contract entitled "business contributor contract" was terminated by the principal, as a result of which the service provider sued it for payment of a termination fee, arguing that the contract should be reclassified as a commercial agency. The Court of Appeal (Montpellier, Nov. 21, 2017), retained the qualification of brokerage: according to the trial judges, the intermediary had no negotiating power given the contractual stipulations and the fact that he was not invited to the commercial meetings organized by the principal in order to determine its commercial and pricing policy. On appeal, the intermediary