Covid-19

The principle under French law is that financial dealings between France and foreign countries are unrestricted.

However, some investors making certain types of investments in so-called “sensitive” business sectors must follow a prior authorization procedure with the French Minister of the Economy.

The control of foreign investments in these business sectors has been significantly reinforced in recent years, especially since the outbreak of the health crisis resulting from the emergence and spread of COVID-19.

The Health Crisis Management Law No. 2021-1040 of August 5, 2021 entered into force on August 6, 2021.

Some of its provisions make working as an employee conditional on the presentation of a vaccination certificate or a certificate of negative test result for COVID-19.

The lack of certificate is likely to entail the suspension of the employment contract.

Seeking to ensure the survival of companies that could become insolvent in the coming months due to the phasing-out of the support measures that have been put in place, the French legislator has adopted a Law introducing a new procedure, i.e., the judicial crisis recovery management procedure.

This temporary procedure is of particular interest to debtors who may be experiencing short-term difficulties caused by the COVID-19 health crisis and who wish to benefit from a simple and rapid mechanism for spreading out their current liabilities over a long period of time.

On March 17, 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal for a regulation to create a digital green certificate to facilitate free movement within the European Union in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This contemplated digital tool was discussed in a joint opinion from the European Data Protection Board and the European Data Protection Supervisor dated March 31, 2021, published on April 6, 2021.

Ordinance No. 2020-321 of March 25, 2020 adopted in furtherance of Law No. 2020-290 of March 23, 2020 has adapted the rules governing the holding and deliberations of meetings of shareholders and meetings of governing bodies of private law businesses and entities without legal personality to deal with the Covid19 pandemic.

Decree No. 2021-255 of March 9, 2021 extends until July 31, 2021 the application of the rules derived from said Ordinance and its Implementing Decree No. 2020-418 of April 10, 2020.

The entry into force of Decree No. 2021-255 is a good opportunity to review the various changes that have occurred since our last article on the subject published on our Blog on September 29, 2020.

In a deliberation No. 2021-006 issued on January 19, 2021, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (French Data Protection Authority, hereinafter the “CNIL”) gave its opinion on a draft Decree aimed at strengthening the system for tracing the chains of COVID-19 transmission, known as the “Contact Covid” information system, as part of the French Government’s strategy to fight against the spread of the virus.

This article outlines the CNIL’s main observations and recommendations which aim at maintaining the protection of often sensitive personal data while the draft Decree foresees a considerable and substantial extension of the information collected.