Mrs. Lydie Bontemps-Helmy has joined Soulier Avocats as Counsel in corporate law and business law

Soulier Avocats is pleased to announce that Mrs. Lydie Bontemps-Helmy has joined the firm as Counsel.

Lydie focuses her practice on corporate law, domestic and international contracts, and commercial law.

She provides legal assistance to a French and foreign clientele comprising primarily multinationals, industrial and services companies, SMBs, investors and business owners in connection with domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, external growth transactions, transfers of businesses, group reorganizations and restructurings, and equity transactions.

Lydie also assists French and foreign businesses in the drafting and negotiation of all types of domestic and international contracts.

After more than four years working in Shanghai (China), she has developed a substantial expertise in assisting foreign investors in their expansion projects in France.

Focus on foreign investments in France: requirements, overview and recent incentives

Lydie Bontemps-Helmy, Esq.

France offers many advantages for businesses, in particular thanks to its central location in Europe, the 2nd largest market in the world, a well-trained workforce and one of the highest hourly productivity rates, an advantageous tax system, as well as an appreciable environmental protection.

The French Government has set up rules to screen foreign investments. This screening has not prevented a significant number of foreign projects from being authorized in 2022.

The French Government has recently been encouraging foreign investments in the industrial and green sectors.

Publication of the new Regulation on the protection of European craft and industrial products

Claire Filliatre, Esq.

Following approval by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, the new Regulation on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products was published on October 27, 2023 in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation marks a significant milestone in the protection of the names of European craft and industrial products as it creates a single system of protection throughout the territory of the European Union.

Air pollution: The French State ordered for the third time to pay €10 million

Laure Marolleau, Esq.

Noting that the French State had failed to take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with European air pollution thresholds in several urban areas in France, the Conseil d’État (French Administrative Supreme Court) ordered it in 2021 and 2022 to pay 3 penalty payments of €10 million each per six-month period of non-compliance.

In a ruling handed down on November 24, 2023, considering the persistence of pollution in Paris and Lyon and the improvements observed, the Conseil d’État once again ordered the French State to pay two penalty payments of €5 million each for the two six-month periods from July 2022 to July 2023.

Infographic on the value-sharing bonus (PPV)

Fabien Pomart, Esq. and Matthieu Blaschczyk, Esq.

The transposition Law of November 29, 2023 incorporates most of the proposals of the national interprofessional agreement on value sharing of February 10, 2023.

From December 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, companies that have already paid a value-sharing bonus (PPV) to their employees in 2023 will be able to pay a second value-sharing bonus under preferential social and tax arrangements.

Mondaq Autumn 2023 Thought Leadership Awards

We are happy to announce that two of our lawyers have received distinctions in the Mondaq Autumn 2023 Thought Leadership Awards.

Laure Marolleau was recognized as a Mondaq Thought Leading Author for Energy and Natural Resources and Claire Filliatre as Mondaq Thought Leading Author for Compliance.