French Commercial code
In forceI.-Any company which employs, at the close of two consecutive financial years, at least five thousand employees within itself and in its direct or indirect subsidiaries whose registered office is located on French territory, or at least ten thousand employees within itself and in its direct or indirect subsidiaries whose registered office is located on French territory or abroad, shall draw up and effectively implement a due diligence plan.
Subsidiaries or controlled companies that exceed the thresholds mentioned in the first paragraph are deemed to meet the obligations set out in this article once the company that controls them, within the meaning of Article L. 233-3, draws up and implements a due diligence plan relating to the activity of the company and all the subsidiaries or companies it controls.
The plan shall include reasonable due diligence measures to identify risks and prevent serious harm to human rights and fundamental freedoms, the health and safety of individuals and the environment, resulting from the activities of the company and those of the companies it controls within the meaning of II of Article L. 233-16, directly or indirectly, as well as the activities of subcontractors or suppliers with whom there is an established commercial relationship, where these activities are linked to this relationship.
The plan is intended to be drawn up in association with the company's stakeholders, where appropriate as part of multi-stakeholder initiatives within sectors or at a regional level. It includes the following measures:
1° A risk map designed to identify, analyse and prioritise risks;
2° Procedures for regularly assessing the situation of subsidiaries, subcontractors or suppliers with whom an established commercial relationship is maintained, with regard to the risk map ;
3° Appropriate actions to mitigate risks or prevent serious harm;
4° A mechanism for alerting and collecting reports relating to the existence or realisation of risks, established in consultation with the representative trade union organisations in the said company;
5° A system for monitoring the measures implemented and assessing their effectiveness.
The vigilance plan and the report on its effective implementation are made public and included in the management report mentioned in the second paragraph of Article L. 225-100 (1).
A decree in the Council of State may supplement the vigilance measures provided for in 1° to 5° of this article. It may specify the procedures for drawing up and implementing the due diligence plan, where applicable in the context of multi-stakeholder initiatives within industries or at local level.
II.-.Where a company served with formal notice to comply with the obligations set out in I fails to do so within three months of the formal notice being served, the competent court may, at the request of any person showing an interest in bringing proceedings, enjoin it, where appropriate subject to a fine, to comply with them.
The president of the court, ruling in summary proceedings, may be seised for the same purposes.
[Provisions declared not to comply with the Constitution by Constitutional Council decision no. 2017-750 DC of 23 March 2017.]
