In the meantime the French Senate's Commission des Lois has made several amendments to the bill's draft text which could have an important bearing on the way the French auction market will develop once the commissaires-priseurs lose their monopoly.
Most importantly, the Commission has ruled that compensation due to commissaires-priseurs for the loss of their monopoly will be financed by the State and not by an additional auction tax of one per cent.
Other changes include:
•removing restrictions on an auctioneer's rights to make advance payments to the vendor;
•allowing the auctioneer to become the owner of an unsold object if the vendor has been guaranteed a minimum price, and subsequently offer it for re-sale;
•extending the time allowed for an unsold lot to be negotiated after the sale from one to two weeks, although not for a price less than the final bid.
French auction reform – the bill is altered
FRANCE: A NEW date of June 10 has been set for the first parliamentary reading of the long-delayed bill reforming French auction system.
