Grandstand. The duty of vigilance imposed on large French companies since 2017 is spreading throughout Europe and this is good news for responsible companies of all sizes! Norway and Germany have just adopted specific laws, the Netherlands and Belgium are in the process of legislative work and a European directive is being prepared, which France will make a priority of its mandate at the head of the Council of Europe. ‘European Union.
This European harmonization is urgent to avoid national disparities. The differentials in thresholds and scope of application as well as penalties are indeed risk factors. By requiring companies with more than 5,000 employees to develop and implement a vigilance plan to prevent and manage serious social, health, safety and environmental risks related to their activities and to report publicly on the results, the France has done pioneering work.
This duty of care has profoundly changed practices. The requirements go down to the level of the suppliers whose contracts also require them to exercise vigilance with regard to their own suppliers… Of course, nothing is perfect and much remains to be done. The procedures in progress in France show it. NGOs, trade unions, consumer associations have taken advantage of the available remedies.
Follow the example of French companies
Formal notices, subpoenas, all accompanied of course by campaigns on social networks, have flourished. The six companies currently targeted in France under this pioneering law are in a way the judicial guinea pigs of this legal change. This quest for case law by NGOs has the merit, however, of showing that the risks of legal liability are serious.
These actions illustrate how demanding this duty of vigilance is and its forthcoming extension to all companies with 250 employees in the 27 EU Member States is good news, particularly for French companies, in two respects. The trajectories taken over the past four years by French companies and their suppliers give them a head start.
Especially since, since the Pacte law of 2019, all French companies must be “managed in its social interest, taking into consideration the social and environmental challenges of its activity”. This article 1833-2 of the civil code calls neither more nor less for the exercise of the duty of vigilance for any decision of management… It is reasonable to think that the European extension of the duty of vigilance will amplify the phenomenon, particularly in a context where employees, customers and investors are increasingly attentive to these issues.
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