PARIS—Antiques dealers are up in arms over proposed legislation that would allow French auction houses to perform private transactions, which is forbidden under current law. Hervé Aaron, the head of the nation’s antiquarian syndicate, says that the change would unfairly strengthen the power of Sotheby and Christie’s — the country’s two main auction houses — and spell “disaster for the art market in France.”

Proponents of the new legislation say that it is necessary to compete in a global marketplace. Guillaume Cerutti, head of Sotheby’s France and a strong supporter of the change, notes that auctioneers already conduct private sales outside of France. When a French client wants to engage in a private sale, Sotheby’s simply “has its English or American branches intervene.”

The French art market has declined over the pasty 30 years and today accounts for only six percent of world sales. Cerutti cites the current restrictions on trade as a reason for that shift, while some opponents say that the 5.5 percent French sales tax on imports is to blame. Both sides want policy changes, but that’s about all they’re willing to agree on right now.

Read more at Artforum.