Covington & Burling LLP (LexBlog France)

34 results for Covington & Burling LLP (LexBlog France)

  • The French CNIL Reminds Two Medical Research Organizations of their Data Protection Obligations

    As permitted by the GDPR, France has enacted some specific requirements for the processing of health data, in particular in the context of medical research.  Following a report, the French supervisory authority (“CNIL”) audited two organizations carrying out medical research in early 2022 to check their compliance with these requirements.  On March 13, 2023, the...

  • U.S.-EU Trade and Tech Council: Paris Takeaways and Next Steps

    Last month, the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) met in Paris-Saclay for the second time since its launch in June 2021. (The first ministerial took place in Pittsburgh in September. France hosted this session as holder of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.) The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary of State...

  • Regulators and Activists Increase Scrutiny on Use of Cookies and Cookie Banner Design

    As many readers will be aware, a key enforcement trend in the privacy sphere is the increasing scrutiny by regulators and activists of cookie banners and the use of cookies. This is a topic that we have been tracking on the Inside Privacy blog for some time. Italian and German data protection authorities have issued guidance within the past three months, adding...

  • Regulators and Activists Increase Scrutiny on Use of Cookies and Cookie Banner Design

    As many readers will be aware, a key enforcement trend in the privacy sphere is the increasing scrutiny by regulators and activists of cookie banners and the use of cookies. This is a topic that we have been tracking on the Inside Privacy blog for some time. Italian and German data protection authorities have issued...

  • Regulators and Activists Increase Scrutiny on Use of Cookies and Cookie Banner Design

    As many readers will be aware, a key enforcement trend in the privacy sphere is the increasing scrutiny by regulators and activists of cookie banners and the use of cookies. This is a topic that we have been tracking on the Inside Privacy blog for some time. Italian and German data protection authorities have issued...

  • France Enacts New Law on Parental Controls

    On March 2, 2022, following a fast-track legislative process in the French National Assembly and Senate, President Macron of France signed into law a new piece of legislation designed to reinforce parental controls over minors’ access to the Internet (the “Law”) (see final text of the Law published in the Official Journal here, in French)....

  • France Enacts New Law on Parental Controls

    On March 2, 2022, following a fast-track legislative process in the French National Assembly and Senate, President Macron of France signed into law a new piece of legislation designed to reinforce parental controls over minors’ access to the Internet (the “Law”) (see final text of the Law published in the Official Journal here, in French). The...

  • French National Assembly’s Committee Approves Bill on Internet Parental Control

    On 12 January 2022, the French National Assembly’s Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education (the “Committee”) unanimously approved a draft bill seeking to “encourage the use of parental controls on certain equipment and services sold in France and allowing access to the Internet” (the “Bill”). Background In 2021, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) conducted a...

  • Fighting Inequality: Empowering Women and Girls with the Desert Flower Foundation

    On October 11, 2021, the Covington Brussels office hosted a Webcast: “Fighting Inequality: Empowering Women and Girls” in honor of International Day of the Girl Child. London Partner Louise Nash moderated the impressive panel of women, comprising of Waris Dirie, founder of Desert Flower Foundation, and Kiera Chaplin, the President of Desert Flower Foundation France....

  • New Early Access and Off-Label Use Rules in France

    On 1 July 2021, the new French rules on early access to unauthorized medicinal products and off-label use of authorized medicinal products entered into force.  The rules were introduced by the Social Security Financing Law for 2021 (LOI n° 2020-1576 du 14 décembre 2020 de financement de la sécurité sociale pour 2021 or “LFSS 2021”,...

  • EU General Court dismisses first two challenges to State aid awarded to national airlines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

    On 17 February 2021, the General Court of the European Union (“General Court”) in Cases T-259/20 and T-238/20 dismissed Ryanair’s challenges to pandemic aid packages introduced in France and Sweden in order to support the domestic airline sector. The judgments are the first ones where the General Court has decided on the legality of the...

  • French Supervisory Authority Releases Strict Guidance on the Use of Facial Recognition Technology at Airports

    On October 9, 2020, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) issued guidance on the use of facial recognition technology for identity checks at airports (available here, in French).  The CNIL indicates that it has issued this guidance in response to a request from several operators and service providers of airports in France who are planning to...

  • Entry Into Force of Reinforced Anti-gift Rules in France

    Today, October 1st 2020, the updated anti-gift scheme in France enters into force.  The anti-gift rules impose obligations on pharmaceutical, medical device and cosmetics companies when interacting with healthcare professionals (“HCPs”) and healthcare organizations (“HCOs”) in France.  The updated framework was foreseen in the adoption of Ordinance 2017-49 of 19 January 2017 and Decree 2020-730...

  • New Challenges for European Defense

    Two days before NATO celebrated its seventieth anniversary in Watford, close to London on December 3–4, Ursula Von Der Leyen started her 5 years as president of the European Commission. She had announced that her Commission would be ‘geopolitical’, and appointed a commissioner, the French Thierry Breton, to deal with ‘Defense Industry and Space’, among...

  • French Supervisory Authority publishes guidance on facial recognition

    On November 15, 2019, the French Supervisory Authority (“CNIL”) published guidance on the use of facial recognition. The guidance is primarily directed at public authorities in France that want to experiment with facial recognition. The guidance warns that this technology risks leading to biased results because the algorithms used are not 100% reliable and the...

  • Regulatory Watch: How has recent Law No 2019-774 of 24 July 2019 on the organization and transformation of the health system changed the anti-gift rules?

    French “anti-gift” rules strictly regulate the relationship between the life sciences industry and healthcare professionals (“HCP”) and the possibility for companies active in the health sector to offer benefits, in cash or in kind to healthcare professionals, medical students or associations representing them.  This includes a general prohibition against offering such benefits. To strengthen the.

  • French medicines regulator produces first in Europe medical devices cybersecurity guidelines

    France’s medicines regulator, the Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé (ANSM), has released draft guidelines, currently subject to a public consultation, setting out recommendations for manufacturers designed to help prevent cybersecurity attacks to medical devices. Notably, the draft guidelines are the first instance of recommendations released by a national...

  • French medicines regulator produces first in Europe medical devices cybersecurity guidelines

    France’s medicines regulator, the Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé (ANSM), has released draft guidelines, currently subject to a public consultation, setting out recommendations for manufacturers designed to help prevent cybersecurity attacks to medical devices. Notably, the draft guidelines are the first instance of recommendations released by a national...

  • Application of the private investor test in State aid cases: lessons from the EDF saga

    On 13 December 2018, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) rejected an appeal by Electricité de France (“EDF”) against a General Court (“GC”) judgment confirming a Commission decision ordering France to recover EUR 1.37 billion in State aid from EDF (Case C-221/18 P EDF v Commission). The ECJ judgment confirms that the aid, which had...

  • Google fined €50 million in France for GDPR violation

    On January 21, 2019, the French Supervisory Authority for data protection (“CNIL”) issued a fine of €50 million against Google for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (the decision was published in French here).  The CNIL’s decision was triggered by complaints from two non-profit organizations together representing 9974 individuals. The case raises a...

  • What Companies Need to Know About France’s Loi Sapin II Anti-Corruption Law

    On June 3, 2018, French tycoon Vincent Bolloré warned investors that Groupe Bolloré—a logistics provider with extensive operations in former French colonies in Africa—may suffer negative commercial and financial consequences as a result of a corruption investigation initiated by French authorities. Mr. Bolloré was questioned for two days by French police in April 2018 over...

  • AG Opinion on Software Medical Devices

    On 28 June 2017, Advocate General Sanchez-Bordona (AG) presented his opinion in case C-329/16 Syndicat national de l’industrie des technologies médicales and Philips France following a request for preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État (France) to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning the laws governing the classification of software medical devices....

  • France Boosts Its eHealth Initiatives

    The French Health Minister recently unveiled its 2020 eHealth National Strategy, with the intent to boost innovations through the use of big data in health.  The initiative is prompted by the advances in the ability to collect massive amounts of health data through connected devices such as phones, watches and apps, which present the opportunity...

  • Transparency and Conflicts of Interest: France Heading Towards Additional Healthcare Reforms

    Over the past few years, several scandals (e.g., Poly Implant Prothèse (“PIP”) breast implants, Mediator weight-loss drug, etc.) have tarnished the public perception of France’s healthcare sector and raised serious questions about the independence of medical decision-making by practitioners.  As it sets a new course, France is now at the European forefront of increasing the...

  • Employees in France and Germany May No Longer Have to Respond to Work-Related Emails Out of Working Hours

    As people head off on their summer breaks, regulators in Europe, particularly Germany, are increasingly focused on the breakdown of the division between home and work life and how this division is changing as mobile devices become used for work-related emails. Regulators are considering new rules that would limit an employer’s ability to require employees...

  • European Consumer Legislation and Online Privacy Policies: Opening Pandora’s Box?

    Regulators and courts in the EU are increasingly vigilant in relation to privacy practices and policies of large online companies.  In recent years and months, the pressure increases not only through privacy-specific regulations and enforcement, but also through the application of consumer legislation.  As the below examples from France and Germany show, some courts or...

  • Reduced Risk for International Companies Operating In France: Potential Removal Of Severe Sanctions For Failure to Consult with Works Councils

    We are writing with another update on French labor law that could impact international corporate transactions.  French President Francois Hollande has proposed a change to French legislation that could remove the threat of imprisonment for directors and senior employees who are found to have breached obligations to consult with works councils and other employee representatives. ...

  • A Trap for the Unwary in International Acquisitions: New Information Rights for Employees Prior to Sale of Company in France

    By: Chris Bracebridge, Luciana Griebel, Helena Milner-Smith, and Jenna Wallace A French law that comes into force on November 1, 2014 will give employees new rights to be informed prior to the sale of a small or medium-sized company, thereby allowing them the opportunity to make an offer to purchase the company.  Companies that meet certain...

  • Abercrombie and Fitch under investigation in France over potentially discriminatory recruitment policies

    Abercrombie and Fitch – renowned for its attractive shirtless model hosts greeting customers at store entrances – is currently under investigation by the French human rights watchdog (Defenseur des Droits) over claims that it hires employees based solely on their good looks. The watchdog is concerned that Abercrombie’s recruitment methods are based on discriminatory criteria...

  • French Sunshine Rules and the Medical Devices Industry

    At the end of May 2013, the French government released the long awaited Decree implementing the 2011 French Sunshine Act.  The Decree requires companies to publicly disclose — in French — any benefit over 10 Euros and agreements (except commercial ones) concluded with healthcare professionals or other actors active in the health sector in France....

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