PARIS: France’s biggest companies are pushing hard to thwart a government-backed bill that would hold them legally responsible for ensuring social and human rights at units in countries where labor is cheap precisely because such restrictions don’t exist.
AFEP, Medef and Croissance Plus are the three business lobbies leading the fight against the proposed law, which will be applied to all companies with more than 5,000 employees in France or operating in France with more than 10,000 employees globally.
Dominique Potier, the lawmaker who authored the 500-word bill, told Bloomberg that companies would be required to have a plan to ensure the safety and security of employees at their direct or indirect subsidiaries worldwide. The bill, which was passed by the lower house of parliament in March, will be debated in the Senate on Wednesday.
“It’s ludicrous!” said Stanislas de Bentzmann, who heads Croissance Plus, the smallest of the three lobbies. “This is just a political move from the Socialist government to show their voters they are still left-wing. The only thing it will do is harm our companies and our competitiveness,” he said in a telephone interview. Bentzmann started his career in 1987 with a company that set up “production units in low-cost countries for large retailers,” according to his official web page.
