"French Duty of Care law: despite business pressure, an important step towards final adoption", 24 Mar 2016

On Wednesday 23rd March, the French National Assembly adopted in second reading the legislative proposal on parent company duty of care (« devoir de vigilance »).  While French civil society organisations regret the text has not been improved, they welcome its adoption by a strong majority...They now call on the government, which reiterated its support to the bill yesterday during the Parliamentary debate, to bring the process to a successful conclusion before this summer. They also call on the Senate to put it on its agenda as soon as possible...By embedding this obligation to develop “vigilance plans” – plans to ensure due diligence throughout companies’ operations – this law would ensure that large French companies are responsible for their impacts, in France and in its value chain. This law originates from the urgent need to prevent environmental damage and human rights violations caused by corporate activities...On 18th May, members of national parliaments from all EU states are invited to meet and support the French initiative for a “Green Card”, which aims to get the Commission to engage in a similar legislative process at EU level...