This chapter argues for the need to revise the features seen as distinctive by British scholars who have studied French administrative law in the past. There is a distinctive path dependence arising particularly from the Napoleonic reforms and from the separation of public and private law courts. But modern French administrative law is shaped by the rise of French constitutional law, EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights. The influence of these is illustrated. Contemporary trends in French public administration are also discussed.

The conclusion examines the different influences on contemporary French administrative law. Some distinctive features have their origins in the historical development of French government and the distinctive development of the French administrative courts and legal scholarship. The development of a proper constitutional law in the Fifth Republic has changed the dynamics of the leadership of public law and its sources of influence, mainly by expanding the scope of public law.The existential commitment of France to Europe has created a newer path dependence. EU law and the European Convention shape French public law not only through directly applicable rules, but also as benchmarks and sources of ideas. France and French society belong to global trends which have shaped expectations of the public not only about the administration, but also about the context in which it operates. The rules on public procurement are an example of these wider influences. France is thus distinctive, but at the same time an illustration of wider forces at work in administrative law.