PARIS, March 17, 2026 — France’s competition watchdog has fined the country’s main ski instructor union €3.4 million for imposing rules that prevented instructors from working outside its dominant network of ski schools, in a decision highlighting concerns over worker mobility and market access in the winter sports sector.
The Autorité de la concurrence said the Syndicat national des moniteurs du ski français (SNMSF) breached both French and EU competition law by requiring instructors to work exclusively within ski schools run by École du ski français.
At the centre of the case is a clause introduced in 2006 and strengthened in 2013, which barred instructors from teaching independently or for rival schools. The rules also imposed strict penalties for non-compliance, including suspension or expulsion from both the union and ESF schools.
The authority found the clause applied broadly to all instructors—regardless of status, discipline or teaching format—and throughout the entire year, making it far more restrictive than arrangements used by competing ski schools.
Because most instructors in France are self-employed, the regulator said the rules amounted to a serious restriction on their freedom to operate and limited competition across the national ski instruction market.
The decision comes against the backdrop of SNMSF’s dominant position in the sector. The union represents more than 16,000 instructors—around 80% of the national total—and operates through ESF schools in the vast majority of France’s 250 ski resorts.
Competitors told the authority they struggled to recruit instructors and expand their businesses due to these restrictions, reinforcing barriers to entry in an already concentrated market.
The regulator concluded that the exclusivity obligation effectively foreclosed competition by limiting the ability of rival schools to access qualified instructors—an essential resource in the sector.
The authority classified the practice as a restriction of competition “by object” under Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, meaning it was inherently harmful without requiring detailed analysis of its effects.
It also reiterated that sporting activities are fully subject to competition law, citing recent rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union, including the European Super League and FIFA cases.
In setting the €3.4 million penalty, the authority applied a new sanctions regime for professional associations for the first time. The fine was calculated based on the combined turnover of SNMSF members active in the affected market, capped at 10%.
The regulator also ordered the union to amend its rules, publish a summary of the decision in national and regional media, and inform its members directly. If the union is unable to pay the fine, it must seek financial contributions from its members under recent changes to French competition law.
The case underscores increasing scrutiny of labour-related restrictions in competition enforcement, following earlier action against “no-poach” agreements in other sectors, and signals a broader push to ensure professional organisations do not use collective arrangements to distort competition or restrict market access.
