Aug 6, 4:15 PM
The End of the Line: France Criminalises the Cold Call
Emmanuel Macron’s government is finally shutting down unsolicited telemarketing, but the heavy-handed ban threatens to devastate Morocco's outsourcing economy.
The sacred French dinner hour is about to become marginally more peaceful. Starting on August 11, Emmanuel Macron’s government will enforce a blanket ban on unsolicited cold calling. The shift alters the telemarketing landscape, moving from a leaky opt-out model to a strict regime requiring prior consumer consent. For a state grappling with alarming public finances and a weak economy, cracking down on telephone nuisances offers a rare, universally popular victory.
The financial penalties for violating this new boundary are intentionally draconian. Individuals caught dialing without permission face fines up to 75,000 euros per call, while corporate entities could be hit with 375,000 euros for the same offence. The Ministry of Economy and Finance is understandably pleased. Consent can be withdrawn at any time, confirmed Alice Vilcot of the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control. Exceptions apply only to companies holding an existing contract with the consumer, or those who gathered explicit agreement during a shop visit, via a form, or a purchase.
This approach follows fifteen years of regulatory impotence. Previously, Paris attempted to manage the annoyance through minor restrictions, such as banning calls from mobile prefixes starting with 06 or 07, or limiting weekend dialling. These half-measures applied only to specific sectors like the Personal Training Account, home adaptations, and energy-efficiency renovations. Independent investigations, including a probe by content creator Micode, exposed the aggressive techniques used by these centres. With three-quarters of the population receiving unwanted pitches weekly, eleven consumer groups formally demanded a ban in 2024.
While French citizens celebrate the silence, the economic shockwaves are hitting North Africa. Morocco, reliant on French outsourcing due to its francophone workforce, weak unions, and low labour costs, is bracing for impact. Employment Minister Younes Sekkouri warned that up to 50,000 jobs are at risk. The Moroccan call centre industry, built on roughly 100 million dollars in investment and generating over one billion dollars in annual revenue, historically draws 80 percent of its business from France. Youssef Chraïbi of the Moroccan Outsourcing Services Federation noted pure telemarketing now accounts for just 15 to 20 percent of total activity. Nevertheless, the disruption exposes Paris's habit of enacting policies with total ignorance of the economic destabilisation they export to African partners.
France is hardly a pioneer here. Germany established an opt-in system in 2009, and the Netherlands tightened its own rules last month, banning companies from pitching promotional offers to existing customers without permission. The United States and Canada still rely on opt-out registries. The United Kingdom's Telephone Preference Service operates similarly, with fines of up to 500,000 pounds, or 583,000 euros, for breaches. Yet, the victory over the telephone scammer may prove hollow. The consumer association Que Choisir anticipates that fraudsters will simply pivot to door-to-door canvassing. Its president, Marie-Amandine Stévenin, is already demanding regulation for that, prompting predictable calls for yet another layer of state bureaucracy.
Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com
