On 8 March 2011, the bill including various provisions to bring French law on health, labour and electronic communications in line with European Union legislation was passed by the French National Assembly and Senate.
AFNIC welcomes this new step forward, achieved despite the tight deadlines imposed by the French Constitutional Council and the Parliamentary calendar as of October 6 last. Background:
- On 6 October, the Constitutional Council ruled that Article L45 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code would be unconstitutional as of 1 July 2011, handing the initiative over to the legislature to change it.
- On 1 December 2010, i.e. only two months later, the debate on the new legislative framework for domain names began in the French National Assembly: Lionel Tardy MP introduced an amendment to replace Article L.45 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code, to make it compatible with the French Constitution.
- On Thursday 13 January, the French National Assembly adopted on first reading a bill to define the new legal framework for extensions applicable to the national territory.
- On Thursday, February 10, 2011, the Senate passed the amended bill on domain names. The new Article L. 45 (et seq.) was submitted on February 16 to a joint committee, in order to have the two assemblies agree on a common text.
- On 8 and 9 March 2011, the text was adopted respectively by the National Assembly and Senate.
With the passing of this bill by Parliament, a major milestone has been reached in the process of drafting the new law on domain names, a step welcomed by AFNIC.
The last stage in the legislative process is the enactment of the law by the President of the Republic within 15 days, then its publication in the Official Gazette, from which point onwards the new section L45 (et seq.) will be applicable throughout France.