France is the first country in the European Union to transpose the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The CSRD replaces the previous Non-Financial Reporting Directive, that created the obligation for non-financial reporting. This transposition broadens the scope of companies that have to implement sustainability reporting and extends their transparency obligations.
In a ministerial response dated 31 August 2023, the French Minister of the Economy recently commented on the obligation for French tax residents to annually declare their foreign bank accounts, clarifying that the fact that a person holds a shareholding in a foreign company or is its corporate officer is not in itself sufficient to fall within the scope of this reporting obligation.
On 18 November 2023, Germany, France, and Italy reached a significant agreement on the future of AI regulation, marking a step forward in shaping the AI landscape within the European Union.
Pursuant to the law of 15 November 2021 aiming at reducing the environmental footprint of digital in France, the French Audiovisual and Digital Communications Regulatory Authority (ARCOM) published on 13 September 2023 its recommendation on consumer information, from television services, on-demand audiovisual media services and video-sharing platform services, regarding energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission of data consumption related to the use of these services. This recommendation, which follows a public consultation of industry stakeholders launched in 2022, aims to encourage good consumption practices by informing users, facilitating the use of energy-efficient adjustment parameters and the establishment of a common methodology for calculating environmental impact.
A decree dated 3 February 2023 updated the French list of Non-Cooperative States and Territories within the meaning of article 238-0 A of the FTC: the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands have been added to the previous list (issued by the decree dated 2 March 2022).
The Tax Court of Appeal of Paris judges, in a dispute concerning the statute of limitations for tax collection, that the United States does not have a legal instrument on mutual assistance for tax collection that is “equivalent” to the one provided for by Council Directive 2010/24/EU of 16 March 2010. Such an interpretation of the tax treaty concluded between France and the US could have consequences on other tax regimes, and in particular on French exit tax.
Join us for a four-part webinar series as our US moderators welcome colleagues from around the globe to share the latest labor and employment law updates and trends. US-based multinational employers with business operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas regions will hear directly from local practitioners on the major developments they need to know, and come away with practical tips and takeaways to implement.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Blog Series: Sanctions Enforcement Around the G7 – the French Perspective on 28 March 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 22 March 2023, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims.
The proposal aims to harmonize the evaluation and monitoring of voluntary environmental claims – often referred to as “green claims” – towards EU consumers and control the proliferation of public and private environmental labels. Complementing the March 2022 proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition as a lex specialis by providing more specific requirements on the substantiation, communication and verification of green claims, it contributes to the fight against “greenwashing”.
Join Baker McKenzie’s Consumer Goods & Retail Industry Group for their events entitled Redefining Luxury & Fashion: What Fits in the Future? scheduled to take place in London on Tuesday, 14 March 2023 and in Paris on Thursday, 16 March 2023.