El impacto de la Loi Pacte francesa (sobre el propósito de las sociedades mercantiles)

Zusammenfassung

The ongoing debate of the corporate purpose of corporations poses innovative questions related to nuclear elements of corporate law and is pushing forward important modifications of some legal systems. An example to mention would be the reform of the French corporate law conducted by the so-called Loi Pacte (Loi n.o 2019-486). The French legislator has impulsed a significant change of the old codified company model with the aim of providing companies with a renewed social legitimacy. To that end, and among others, an autonomous interest of the corporation different from the one of the shareholders has been recognized, together with the obligation for companies to be managed taking into account the social and environmental challenges present in its business activity. In order to facilitate the transition, so companies can adapt its performance and behavior to the new legal requirements, the possibility for corporations to adopt a «raison d’être» and, particularly, the possibility to adopt the condition of «société à mission» have also been recognized. The impact of the reform of a legal system that has historically influenced our legislation invites us to analyze in detail its main developments. It brings an interesting counterbalance to be considered when analyzing the recent changes that have been recently included in our legislation.