Hogan Lovells (JD Supra France)

Four years after the enactment of the Duty of Vigilance Law, the French National Assembly adopted in first reading on 4 May 2021 the Climate and Resilience bill which clarifies in its Article 71 ter the question of which French court has jurisdiction over disputes relating to the Duty of Vigilance Law.

The French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) published an FAQ on March 18, 2021 to further explain its earlier guidelines and “recommendation” on cookies and other tracking technologies, which were published on September 17, 2020.

On 31 December 2020, the French National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé - “HAS”), in charge of health technology assessment of health care products before access to reimbursement by the public health insurance

Retour sur la lettre de mission que les Ministres de tutelle du Comité économique des produits de santé viennent d’adresser à son Président alors que le nouvel accord-cadre « médicaments » est en passe d’être publié.

On 29 October 2020, the French Ministry for Culture released a draft Ordinance and a draft Decree implementing the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.

On 25 November 2020 the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) overturned its decade-long case law, ruling that corporations may now be held criminally liable for offenses committed by acquired entities prior to the merger.

On October 14, 2020, the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat) published its decision in a lawsuit requesting that the French health data platform (Health Data Hub) be suspended for breach of the GDPR in light of the European Court of Justice’s (CJEU) Scherms II ruling.

On October 8, 2020, France’s data protection authority (CNIL) provided the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat) with a brief presenting its arguments against the hosting of some French public health data by Microsoft in light of the European Court of Justice’s recent invalidation of the EU-US Privacy Shield in Schrems II...

Decree no. 2020-730 of 15 June 2020 and the ministerial orders of 7 August 2020 have completed and specified the new anti-benefits regulations which will come into force on 1 October 2020...

The ministerial orders setting the thresholds for the determination of the notion of negligible value of benefits provided in kind or in cash, as well as the thresholds for the agreements triggering the authorization procedure has finally been published on 14 August.

On 8 July 2020, as part of the Paris Arbitration Week, Hogan Lovells hosted a webinar titled “Claims in Climate Change“, a topic which has attracted much attention and debate in the arbitration community over the past twenty years.

As a consequence of the strengthening of European regulations on the protection of health and the environment following the Diesel issues, the French Ministry in charge of transports announced on 11 June 2020 the creation of a new office within this Ministry named the Vehicles and Engines Market Surveillance…

2020 marks a further milestone in stricter controls on HCPs interactions in France. French government has laid the remaining bricks for the new (and stricter) regulatory framework for interactions between the industry and healthcare professionals: a decree was published on 17 June 2020 and ministerial orders implementing this decree are imminent to enact this new framework. Please see full...

In a decision (French only) dated 27 February 2020, the French Administrative Court of Marseille invalidated the deliberation of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council which allowed to set up...

In an unprecedented global crisis, the performance of contractual obligations has become very difficult, if not impossible, for many economic players who consequently are tempted to find a way to circumvent them.

Faced with the unprecedented sanitary crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, Article 4 of emergency law n° 2020-290 of 23 March 2020 has created the new legal concept of a health state of emergency and has invoked this health state of emergency for a period of two months coming into force immediately. Please see full Publication below for more information.

The French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) has recently released new guidelines (French only) regarding human resources processing operations.

Faced with the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis on the local and European economy, the President of the French Republic and the government announced several emergency measures in order to support businesses in difficulty. Please see full Publication below for more information.

Alors que le monde fait face à une crise sans précédent, l’exécution des obligations contractuelles est devenue très difficile, voire impossible, pour de nombreux acteurs économiques qui sont, dès lors, tentés de chercher à s’y soustraire

The health crisis linked to Covid-19 is exposing firms to economic difficulties which may have serious ramifications. In this context, the government’s aim is to preserve jobs, whilst reducing costs incurred by firms.

Since 2017, the French financial regulation applicable to medical devices is gradually moving closer to the regulation governing pharmaceutical products.

As compliance requirements continue to evolve in France, the guide offers focused, much-needed advice on three areas: audits as part of M&A, how and when to audit, and the outcomes.

Since 2010, French law has required that actions be undertaken to improve the energy efficiency of buildings dedicated to tertiary sector activities in order to optimize their energy performance.

On 10 July 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated an investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into France’s Digital Services Tax (DST) to determine whether the tax is discriminatory or unreasonable and burdens or restricts United States commerce. Please see full Publication below for more information.

On 10 July 2019 the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated an investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into France's digital services tax to determine whether the tax is discriminatory or unreasonable and burdens or restricts United States commerce. Please see full Publication below for more information.

On June 27 the third edition of our new global series, Life Sciences and Health Care Horizons, took place in Paris with discussions focused on the pricing and financial regulation of health products after the latest reforms.

On 19 July the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) published new guidelines on cookies and trackers. These replace the existing Recommendation No. 2013-378 of 5 December 2013, are intended to be in line with relevant GDPR provisions and have been produced in anticipation of the future ePrivacy Regulation.

A joint Hogan Lovells & GTDT publication on M&A Litigation in France. Across common law and code law countries, there are a number of striking similarities and surprising differences with respect to how different jurisdictions address M&A litigation issues. Read more about the most common claims in M&A transactions, limiting regulatory provisions, updates and trends, duties and responsibilities...

The 2018-2022 French Programming Act for Justice recently adopted specific provisions relating to online arbitration, in an attempt to decongest French Courts facing increasing caseloads. This important step towards virtual dispute resolution provides valuable answers to many of the issues raised by the upcoming of LegalTech players in the realm of dispute resolution.

The French Data Protection Authority (the CNIL) has made targeted online advertising a priority topic in its 2019-2020 agenda and has changed its position on cookie consent. Although the ePrivacy Regulation is still being debated by EU legislators and is far from being finalised, the CNIL has withdrawn its 2013 cookie recommendation and announced that it will publish new guidelines (announcements