Consultancy agreement in France: Template, Key Clauses and Local Law (2026)

What a French consultancy agreement is, and the risk that defines it A consultancy agreement in France is usually a service-provider contract (contrat de prestation de services), a business-to-business arrangement under the Civil Code (Code civil) where an independent provider performs services for a client for a fee. It is not an employment contract. The provider might be a registered company, a sole trader, or a micro-entrepreneur (auto-entrepreneur). The contract sets the scope, the deliverables, the fee, confidentiality and intellectual property. The risk that shapes every French consultancy engagement is requalification (requalification en contrat de travail). If the relationship shows legal subordination, a court can reclassify the service contract as employment, with back pay, social contributions and dismissal consequences for the client. French courts have repeatedly done this, including recent decisions of the Cour de cassation and the Paris Court of Appeal in 2026 involving long-running service and micro-entrepreneur relationships. So a French consultancy agreement must be both a clear services contract and a genuine arrangement free of subordination. This article is general guidance, not legal or tax advice. Confirm status and tax questions with a French adviser before you rely on an engagement. ## What local law requires in 2026 - It is a commercial services contract, not employment. A contrat de prestation de services is governed by the general law of contract and the Civil Code, not the Labour Code. The provider keeps its independence and carries its own business and tax obligations.

• Requalification turns on subordination. The decisive test is whether the client exercises legal subordination: giving orders and directions, supervising the work, and sanctioning failures. French case law applies three cumulative criteria for employment: work performed, remuneration, and subordination. Where subordination is shown, the contract can be requalified regardless of its title.
• The non-employment presumption is rebuttable. A person registered as self-employed benefits from a presumption of non-salaried status under Article L8221-6 of the Labour Code, but this is only a simple, rebuttable presumption. It falls away where the facts show a permanent subordinate relationship, so registration alone does not protect the arrangement.
• Consequences of requalification. Reclassification places the provider in the position of an employee hired from the start. Sums already paid under the service contract remain the provider's and count towards dismissal indemnities, and the client can owe back social contributions and penalties.
• Intellectual property needs express assignment. Under French copyright law (droit d'auteur), rights in a creative work belong to its author and do not pass to the client automatically. The agreement needs an express, properly specified assignment of economic rights. Moral rights remain with the author and cannot be assigned.
• A trend to watch. The EU platform work directive (2024/2831), to be applied by member states by 2 December 2026, introduces a presumption of employment where a platform directs and controls a worker. It does not cover ordinary consultancy, but it reflects the direction of travel on misclassification. ## French consultancy agreement template Copy the block below and fill the bracketed fields. ``` CONSULTANCY AGREEMENT (CONTRAT DE PRESTATION DE SERVICES) This agreement is made on [DATE] BETWEEN: [CLIENT NAME], [address], [SIRET number] ("Client") AND [CONSULTANT NAME], [address], [SIRET number] ("Consultant") 1. SERVICES The Consultant provides [describe services and deliverables] as an independent provider. This is a commercial service contract, not an employment contract. 2. INDEPENDENCE The Consultant organises its own work and methods, sets its own hours within agreed deadlines, is not under the Client's authority or supervision, may serve other clients, and uses its own means. No subordination is intended. 3. TERM The agreement runs from [DATE] [until [END DATE] / until the deliverables are accepted]. Either party may terminate on [N] days written notice [and for breach]. 4. FEES The fee is [AMOUNT] per [day / deliverable / fixed price], invoiced [monthly], payable within [N] days, plus VAT where applicable. The Consultant handles its own tax and social contributions. 5. NO EMPLOYMENT The parties intend an independent relationship. The Consultant is not entitled to paid leave, notice or other employee benefits, and is not integrated into the Client's organisation. 6. DELIVERABLES AND ACCEPTANCE The Consultant delivers [outputs] by [dates]. The Client reviews and accepts them within [period]. 7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY The Consultant assigns to the Client the economic rights in the deliverables [specify rights, uses, territory and duration as French law requires], on full payment. Moral rights remain with the author. 8. CONFIDENTIALITY The Consultant keeps the Client's confidential information private during and after the engagement. 9. LIABILITY AND INSURANCE The Consultant performs with professional care, carries [professional liability insurance], and liability is [capped as agreed] except for gross fault. 10. GOVERNING LAW French law applies. The commercial court has jurisdiction. Signed: Client ____________ Consultant ____________ Name / date Name / date

- **No employment (clause 5).** State the intention plainly, but remember a court looks past the words to how the relationship actually runs.
- **Intellectual property (clause 7).** French law is strict. An assignment of copyright must specify the rights assigned, the permitted uses, the territory and the duration, or it can be invalid. Moral rights stay with the author and cannot be signed away. A vague "all IP belongs to the client" line is not enough in France.
- **Fees and tax (clause 4).** The provider invoices and manages its own social and tax position. A fixed monthly sum that behaves like a salary, with daily direction, is a classic requalification trigger. ## Red flags to avoid - A "consultant" working set hours under the client's daily direction and supervision, integrated into the team, with no other clients. Requalification is the likely outcome.
- Relying on the provider's self-employed registration alone, when the non-employment presumption is only rebuttable.
- A vague IP clause that does not specify the rights, uses, territory and duration, which French law can treat as invalid.
- Trying to assign moral rights, which cannot be transferred.
- A fixed monthly fee that functions as a salary, with no real business risk on the provider.
- Ignoring the recent case law trend, which has reclassified long service and micro-entrepreneur relationships. ## Where a contract workspace helps A template gives you a clean French consultancy agreement. The ongoing risk sits in the detail: making sure the independence clause is not undercut by fixed hours or supervision, that the IP assignment is specified the way French law demands and leaves moral rights where they belong, that fees do not read like a salary, and that you can see across engagements which look most like disguised employment. Drafting a contrat de prestation de services, checking it against the requalification markers, and tracking each engagement's term and acceptance can live in one AI workspace tuned to how your company buys services. [Adira](https://adiralaw.com) follows that shape: it drafts from your template, models the agreement as linked clauses so it can flag an IP assignment that is too vague to be valid or an independence clause contradicted by a supervision term, lets you edit in plain language, and keeps engagement dates on one timeline. Adira is India-first today, and deeper France-specific coverage, including the requalification rules, is on its roadmap rather than a settled claim, so use it for drafting and review and keep a French legal and tax adviser for the status call. The template above is enough to put a fair agreement in place on its own. Last verified October 2026.