The Constitutional Court ruled the so-called Florange-Act, a law adopted by the parliament earlier in 2014 (see the February Newsletter) that was meant to introduce tough penalties on firms who shut down without looking for a buyer, as being contrary to the freedom to conduct business and to the right to property. In its constitutional review, the Council does not discredit the obligation to look for a buyer and also the responsibility of the lawmaker for defining rules in this regard is not touched upon. The Court has problems with the impact to the company’s economic choices and the proportionality of the sanctions. The employers’ power and freedom of assessment have to be respected. This forces the legislator to redraft the act.
English: http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/french-constitutional-court-rules ...
French: http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions ...
Focus on the Act: http://hsfnotes.com/employment/2014/03/04/france-loi-florange ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.