Legal Insights

Law No. 2020-546 of May 11, 2020 extends the state of health emergency until July 10, 2020 included. As a reminder, the state of health emergency was declared by the Law of March 23, 2020 for an initial period of two months.

In addition to this one-and-a-half-month extension of the state of emergency, the provisions of the Law mark a cautious and progressive lifting of the lockdown in France.

This article provides an overview of the main measures adopted.

While France is entering the first phase of its end-of-lockdown plan, the Government’s strategy to combat a resumption of the epidemic is now based on monitoring “contact tracing”, i.e. the swift identification of any person who has been close to a patient in order to also test him/her and, if necessary, isolate him/her to avoid the spread the of the disease.

French authorities are planning an “information system” based on two medical databases: Sidep and Contact Covid. As the design of the StopCovid app. is still under way, its deployment was not included in the end-of-lockdown plan presented on April 28, 2020.

The combination of sick leave and short-time work is a headache for many employers.

The Government has adopted new measures very recently.

Here is something to get a clearer picture.

On April 24, 2020, the Versailles Court of Appeals handed down an insightful decision concerning the implementation of employee protection measures by employers in the current health context and lockdown imposed by the Government on March 16.

Ruling on an appeal lodged by the American giant Amazon against the order issued by the Nanterre Judicial Court on April 14, 2020, the Versailles Court of Appeals upheld the order in that it provided for a mandatory obligation to implement a comprehensive national health and safety prevention plan for employees, with prior consultation with staff representatives. This decision is in line with the need to reconcile the necessity to maintain a business activity with the preservation of employees’ health.

The national lockdown exit protocol intended for employers has just been published by the Ministry of Labor.

Its objectives: to help and support companies, whatever their size, activity or geographical location, to resume their business operations while ensuring the protection of their employees’ health through the application of universal rules.

In the context of the Covid-19 epidemic and its impact on the European Union’s economy, the European Commission published on March 26, 2020 a communication designed to alert Member States to the need to protect strategic European assets from foreign direct investments.

While reaffirming the European Union’s openness to foreign investments, the European Commission encourages Member States to protect assets that cover the health needs of their citizens and, more generally, to safeguard Europe’s strategic capacities.