A bill of law on “transparency, anti-corruption and modernization of economic life” introduces for the first time in France a legal definition and protection of whistleblowers and a provision that companies will have to declare their tax position in countries where they or their subsidiaries operate. But for some MPs and transparency activists, the fine detail of this ambitious law makes it a lost opportunity. Dan Israel reports.
The French lower house, the National Assembly, this month approved a bill of law which, for the first time in France, gives whistleblowers a broad legal status. The “transparency, anti-corruption and modernization of economic life” law, drafted by finance minister Michel Sapin, also allows for the first time that companies will have to submit country-by-country reporting of their tax liabilities. Yet the bill, approved on its first reading on June 10th (it will only become law after its second passage through the National Assembly), was a huge disappointment for some MPs and anti-corruption militants who slam it for being too vague and timid.
