Vol 16 (2019) - Issue 5

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Loi Pacte: An Ambitious Reform to Enhance Business Growth and Transformation in France

Synopsis
After months of being passed to and fro between the houses in Parliament, the Loi Pacte (the 'Law') was voted on 11 April but published only on 23 May 2019, because of the various challenges filed by opposition MPs and senators with the French Constitutional Council which resulted in 20 of the 221 Articles of the Law being censored, due inter alia to their remoteness from the initial purpose of the draft bill.
Pacte stands for Plan d’Action pour la Croissance et la Transformation des Entreprises, meaning literally Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation, which was one of the themes of Emmanuel Macron’s election manifesto during the 2017 presidential campaign and remains an essential goal for his government and the country’s economic attractiveness to foreign investors. The Law is the result of dialogue with hundreds of companies and institutions around the country and consultation with thousands of individuals. According to the State Secretary1 to the Minister of Finance, it was this 'mobilisation of collective intelligence' that led to the emergence of 'concrete measures that will have a direct impact' on the life of companies.
The Law indeed addresses a variety of themes as diverse as the privatisation of Aéroports de Paris and la Française des Jeux, which were specifically the target of several challenges, the role companies play in society, which is too often regarded as being adverse to their employees' interests, the removal of various obstacles to the growth of companies at the different stages of their life cycle (from creation to their sale), the liability
applicable in case of traffic accidents involving autonomous vehicles, the reinforcement of foreign investment controls and of gender representation at the boards of French companies, amending securities law so as to improve its efficiency and the attractiveness of French law, amending several rules applicable to companies listed in France (including in relation to squeeze out procedures) and initial coin offerings.
The author presents some of the key corporate and restructuring related changes provided by the Law.