Paris, January 9, 2026 — The French authority has launched, for the first time, a formal competitive assessment of two major food retail buying alliances, AURA and CONCORDIS, to examine their effects on suppliers, retailers, and end consumers.
The assessments are being carried out under Article L. 462-10, II of the French Commercial Code, which allows the authority to evaluate the actual competitive impact of purchasing alliances after they have been implemented.
Retail Alliances Under Scrutiny
The AURA alliance was formed in September 2024 by Intermarché, Auchan, and Casino through a ten-year cooperation agreement covering food products and international service negotiations. The alliance was implemented during the 2025 commercial negotiations and later joined the European purchasing group EVEREST.
The CONCORDIS alliance was established in July 2025 by Carrefour, Cooperative U, and German retail group RTG. It covers the purchase of manufacturer-brand products and international services and is expected to be implemented from the 2026 commercial negotiations.
The authority said it will also examine, where relevant, the European-level purchasing structures in which the alliances participate.
Scope of the Review
The authority will assess the effects of the AURA and CONCORDIS alliances on upstream markets for the supply of consumer goods and downstream markets for retail distribution. It will also examine the impact on end consumers, in particular, whether the alliances lead to price reductions at the retail level.
On the upstream side, the review will focus on potential risks such as restrictions on supply, quality degradation, and reduced incentives for suppliers to innovate or invest. Downstream, the authority will examine risks of coordination between retailers and the standardisation of purchasing conditions.
First Use of Competitive Assessment Mechanism
Buying alliances among food retailers have become more common in recent years as banners seek to pool purchasing volumes and negotiate more favourable terms with suppliers.
French law requires large purchasing alliances to be notified prior to implementation. The competitive assessment mechanism, introduced by the Egalim I law in 2018, supplements that obligation by allowing the authority to assess each alliance individually after implementation, weighing economic efficiencies against any harm to competition.
The authority said this assessment differs from a general opinion, as it focuses on the concrete effects of specific alliances rather than abstract risks.
Call for Third-Party Input
The authority has invited interested third parties to submit comments as part of the assessments. Submissions relating to the AURA alliance must be filed by March 6, 2026, while comments on the CONCORDIS alliance may be submitted until July 31, 2026.
The authority expects to publish its competitive assessment of the AURA alliance by the end of 2026 and its assessment of CONCORDIS in 2027.
