A provisional agreement has been reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law.
This agreement relates to a proposal for a Directive, the aim of which is to improve the effective enforcement of criminal law and to combat the most serious environmental offenses which can have devastating effects on both the environment and human health.
France offers many advantages for businesses, in particular thanks to its central location in Europe, the 2nd largest market in the world, a well-trained workforce and one of the highest hourly productivity rates, an advantageous tax system, as well as an appreciable environmental protection.
The French Government has set up rules to screen foreign investments. This screening has not prevented a significant number of foreign projects from being authorized in 2022.
The French Government has recently been encouraging foreign investments in the industrial and green sectors.
Following approval by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, the new Regulation on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products was published on October 27, 2023 in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation marks a significant milestone in the protection of the names of European craft and industrial products as it creates a single system of protection throughout the territory of the European Union.
On October 16, 2023, the Internal Market and International Trade committees of the European Parliament adopted their position on the future EU Regulation “on prohibiting products made with forced labor on the Union market” (the “Regulation”).
This Regulation was proposed by the European Commission on September 14, 2022, with the aim of combating forced labor and promoting corporate sustainability standards.
On a global scale, the use of forced labor remains widespread, affecting some 27.6 million people worldwide, according to the International Labor Organization (“ILO”).
On September 12, 2023, the European Commission presented a series of initiatives to provide short-term relief to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), boost their long-term competitiveness, and strengthen fairness in the business environment across the Single Market.
The contemplated measures include new proposals for a Regulation on late payments in commercial transactions and for a Directive establishing a head office tax system for SMBs, as well as additional tools to support SMBs throughout their entire business life cycle.
On July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
This decision concludes that the USA ensures an adequate level of protection – comparable to that of the European Union – for personal data transferred from the European Union to US companies under the new Framework.
As such, personal data can henceforth flow safely from the European Union to US companies adhering to the new Framework, without having to put in place additional data protection safeguards.
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