Legal Insights

Law No. 2020-1525 of December 7, 2020 on the acceleration and simplification of public action (often referred to under its French acronym “ASAP” Law) has extended until December 31, 2021 a number of derogations that adapt French legal provisions governing distressed companies to the COVID-19 health crisis.

The adoption of this Law provides the opportunity to recall the various measures that remain applicable to date.

Companies placing hazardous mixtures on the market have to submit information about these mixtures to specific bodies appointed by European Union Member States. Poison centers use this information to give medical advice in case of an emergency.

The notification requirement, based on Annex VIII to the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation, applies from 1 January 2021.

The closure of many companies since the first lockdown in March 2020 and the resulting economic slowdown have caused high tensions between lessors and lessees of commercial premises. Some tensions escalated to disputes, some of which have already been brought before French courts.

Law No. 2020-1379 of November 14, 2020 authorizing the extension of the state of health emergency and introducing various measures to manage the health crisis (the “Law”) has supplemented the measures taken as early as in March 2020 by the French Government concerning the performance of commercial leases agreements.

In a ruling issued on November 25, 2020, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) reaffirmed the exceptional nature of co-employment by giving a new definition of its constituent elements.

This more restrictive definition, which reinforces the exceptional nature of the situation of co-employment, should have a deterrent effect on employees wishing to rely on this concept in court.

Having received several complaints against the Carrefour group, the French Data Protection Authority carried out inspections between May and July 2019 at Carrefour France (mass retail sector) and Carrefour Banque (banking sector).

During these inspections, it found a number of breaches in the processing of customer and potential user data, and consequently imposed a 2,250,000 euros fine on Carrefour France and a 800,000 euros fine on Carrefour Banque. The breaches mainly concerned the information provided to individuals and the respect for the rights of such individuals.

In order to deal with the economic impact of the “second wave” health crisis, two Decrees amending the standard short-time work scheme on the one hand and the long-term short-time work scheme on the other hand were published on October 30, 2020.

What are the new measures laid down by these Decrees?