France passes law to fine companies for plant closures
Tuesday, 25 February 2014 17:36:11 (GMT+3)
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Istanbul
The French National Assembly passed a law on Monday, February 24, which will allow the imposition of fines on businesses that close plants which are still economically viable.
The new law called the "Florange Law", named after the global steel giant ArcelorMittal's French unit, requires any company with more than 1,000 employees to seek a buyer first for a period of three months before shutting down any plant. Companies failing to fulfill this condition will face a fine amounting to €28,000 per job lost, equivalent to 20 times the minimum wage, but not more than two percent of the company's annual turnover.
ArcelorMittal's plans to halt liquid steel production at the Florange plant created tensions between the steelmaker and the French government given French president Francois Hollande's 2012 electoral promises to keep the plant running. However, in April 2013 ArcelorMittal started to mothball the two blast furnaces at Florange despite the French government's threats to nationalize the plant.
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