Une analyse publiée : COVID-19, large corporations and States: time for change?

J’ai le plaisir et surtout l’honneur d’être de livrer une analyse sur le blogue de la British Association of Comparative Law sous le titre « COVID-19, large corporations and States: time for change? ». Ci-dessous, je vous en livre un extrait…

Extrait :

With volunteerism too long idealized and states leading a “race to the bottom” to attract Western multinationals and foreign investors, large corporations have enjoyed impunity and corporate accountability has proven to be a pipe dream. In this field, large corporations have had primacy in international or national discussions and negotiations on societal issues (environmental matters, social issues, climatic problems) for a long time.

However, COVID-19 changed that. The global pandemic is putting the survival of large corporations at risk and forcing them to seek state help. Governments now have the possibility to exert a positive societal impact by combining the provision of public cash aid with terms that can ensure a sustainable economic recovery. While the solution is obvious, the implementation is not. A comparison shows that states are moving forward in a dispersed order and without coherence in their legislative policy despite similarly political announcements.

(…) Through its role as a creditor, states can translate CSR into hard law regulations that constrain large corporations to work for the common good (Family, 2013). In this current globalized economy, corporations must be fully aware of the consequences that their actions or lacks thereof have on various stakeholders. Nevertheless, a lesson can be learned from COVID-19 crisis: a comparison of national reactions shows that it is difficult for politics to leave behind their old attitude and to control large corporations even when public funds are at stake.

However, introducing CSR terms in public financial aids linked with COVID-19 would be in line with the contemporary movement toward a responsible corporate and governance law. The development of a duty of care in France, United Kingdom (Vedanta Resources PLC and anor v. Lungowe v and ors and Chandler v. Cape) and Canada (Choc v. Hudbay Minerals Inc.); the creation of corporations with a social mission (“Benefit corporation” in the United States, “entreprise à mission” in France, “Community Contribution Company” in British Columbia…)(see: Tchotourian et al. 2019); and the different definition of the best interests of the corporation (for example in Canada with the new section 122 of Federal company law; and see also the Business Roundtable) illustrate this trend.

Ce contenu a été mis à jour le 22 juin 2020 à 10 h 29 min.