![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.generalcounsel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/mcdonald-s-logo-met-groenvlak-rgb-1-1019x1024.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure>There are 264 McDonald\u2019s restaurants in the Netherlands. In a way, we\u2019re a mini society in ourselves \u2014 both our guests and our crew members reflect the diversity of the wider community. What many people may not realize is that most of our restaurants are operated by local entrepreneurs.
That\u2019s why we integrate sustainable and socially responsible initiatives into our business operations \u2014 including within our Legal department. This way, we ensure that both now and in the future, we remain that familiar place where people in the Netherlands can enjoy a moment of happiness with delicious, freshly prepared food and friendly service.<\/p>\n\n
Het Legal Team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Over the past few years, we have continued to professionalize our department. Today, we are a team of three specialists, each with our own focus areas. At the same time, we believe it\u2019s important to remain flexible. That\u2019s why all of us have knowledge of the key legal domains: franchising, real estate, employment law, and privacy. Being a considerate member of the community<\/b><\/p><\/p>\n\n We see various opportunities across the Netherlands to open new restaurants. However, in recent years, we\u2019ve noticed increasing resistance from some municipalities and local residents when they hear about a potential new location in their area. We are not (yet) able to further electrify<\/b><\/p><\/p>\n\n Another major challenge in realizing more sustainable restaurants is network congestion. At several locations in the Netherlands, we already have all the necessary permits in place to build a new restaurant \u2014 but there is insufficient, or even no, electricity available. Since 2018, we have taken the step towards fully electric operation. That objective remains. We hope that the government and grid operators will take steps that will enable us to electrify further. In the meantime, we are looking for other ways to become more sustainable. For example, we are installing solar panels on restaurants and testing \u2018battery packs\u2019 to store energy.<\/p>\n\n Risk management plays a major role<\/p>\n\n Risk management always plays a major role at McDonald\u2019s. Not only in the Netherlands, but actually all over the world. McDonald\u2019s is such a well-known brand that almost everything we do is under a magnifying glass by the general public and our stakeholders. It is nice to discuss this with our colleagues in other countries. We notice that the challenges we face in the Netherlands also play or have played in other countries. It is very nice to use the \u2018learnings\u2019 of other colleagues and not have to reinvent the wheel every time.<\/p>\n\n A lot of freedom in the legal field<\/p>\n\n We are given a lot of freedom in the legal field by McDonald\u2019s Corporation to make our own (legal) considerations. Furthermore, I think Risk Management is a responsibility of everyone within our company. For example, if you look at the implementation of the CSRD legislation within McDonald\u2019s, then that is really a cross-functional project between Supply Chain, Legal, Finance and Brand Impact. Each department must determine its own strategy on how risks can be limited.<\/p>\n\n McDonalds and AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Recently, we at McDonald\u2019s in the Netherlands have been busy setting up processes on how we as a company deal with AI. McDonald\u2019s Corporation determines the global principles of the policy that we then edit so that it can also be applied locally in the Netherlands. The use of AI is also typically a subject where everyone has their own responsibility to limit the risks. For example, if the marketing department wants to use an AI application in our McDonald\u2019s app, this intention must first be reported to Legal and IT. We then assess how risky the AI \u200b\u200bapplication is based on so-called \u2018checklists\u2019 that have been completed in advance by the marketing department and the external supplier. If the risk is limited or moderate, risk-mitigating measures are devised. Permission is only granted if these can be met. If it is not possible or not sufficiently possible to limit risks, the use of the AI \u200b\u200bapplication is not permitted.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My name is Marc de Kemp and I am 49 years old. I live in Zeist with my family and really enjoy it. I have a 19-year-old daughter and three sons aged 17, 12, and 10. On weekends, we often go for walks with our dog in the nearby woods. You can also often find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":36181,"template":"","categories":[140,131],"tags":[128],"class_list":["post-36174","diamondbox","type-diamondbox","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diamond-box-en","category-gcs-in-the-spotlight","tag-theme-2024"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.generalcounsel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Afbeelding1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.generalcounsel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Afbeelding3.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.generalcounsel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Afbeelding4.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.generalcounsel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/McCafe.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.generalcounsel.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/image006-1024x684.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n