Public power

► Full Reference: A. Oumedjkane, « Puissance publique et pouvoir de contrôle des entreprises » (Public Power and the Supervisory Power of Companies), Recueil Dalloz, 2025, pp. 1636-1642. - ► Summary: the author observes that public authorities increasingly rely on the supervisory power of companies to secure general-interest goals, from the anti-corruption programme of the Sapin 2 Act to the Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. This power is first instrumentalised: legislation requires permanent internal control, entrusted to a compliance function with functional independence, while regulators reposition themselves by relying on the documents companies send them, at the risk of an overly formal supervision. It is then channelled: Compliance obligations restrict freedom of contract, case law widely accepting the termination of contracts for breach of these requirements, whereas the Conseil constitutionnel (French Constitutional Council) rarely strikes down such restrictions on the freedom to conduct a business. - 🦉 The article is available in full text to those registered in Professor Marie-Anne Frison-Roche’s courses.