The French Parliament has approved a plan to privatize the art auction market and open it to foreign and online auctioneers next year

Art Business News, Oct, 2001 by Vanessa Silberman

* The French Parliament has approved a plan to privatize the art auction market and open it to foreign and online auctioneers next year. Many hope the move will breathe new life into the French art market, which claimed a mere 5 percent share of the overall world market in 1999. The 468 French auctioneers, who have held a monopoly on art auctions in France since 1556, will be compensated for their "expected losses."