FRANCE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Myriam Epelbaum, Tom Vauthier and Pauline Joly, Bredin Prat
Bredin Prat Bredin Prat 53 quai d’Orsay 75007 Paris Tel: +33 1 44 35 35 35 Email: info@bredinprat.com Web: www.bredinprat.fr
First Year of Sustainability Report Under the CSRD by French Companies France was the first EU Member to transpose the CSRD (through Ordinance No 2023-1142 of 6 Decem- ber 2023). France’s CSRD transposition strengthens corporate governance over sustainability reporting and formalises assurance by statutory auditors or qualified independent providers. In practice, many companies have decided to assign the legal respon- sibility for overseeing the preparation of the sustain- ability report to the existing financial audit committee, in coordination, if applicable, with the CSR committee. Pending a European implementing rule to define the contours of the limited assurance of auditors on sus- tainability reports, which was then intended to evolve into reasonable assurance, the French accounting authorities also published a review framework of a demanding level. As a result, large French companies with more than 500 employees and listed on an EU regulated mar- ket were originally required to publish their first sus- tainability report in 2025. While most issuers added warnings in this report, in particular to indicate that this was a first exercise and that they were not nec- essarily able to address all the points, the companies generally played the game of this first exercise that they had anticipated for months or even years. For listed companies, the AMF is very attentive and, hav- ing published various reports and recommendations, it supports issuers closely on these issues. However, in parallel, the Omnibus initiative launched by the European Commission led to the adoption of Directive (EU) 2025/794 of 14 April 2025, commonly referred to as “Stop the Clock”. This directive intro-
The legal framework applicable to corporates has evolved over the past few years, leading companies to treat environmental matters as an intricate part of their business model and strategy. In France, this move- ment has been evident most notably through the 2019 PACTE Act, according to which it is established in the French Civil Code that company officers have a best-effort obligation to consider the social and envi- ronmental issues related to the company’s activities when exercising their powers. After several years of reinforcing the regulatory framework on sustainability and environmental mat - ters nationally and within the EU, 2025 crystallises a moment of regulatory tension. It appears that France, along with the EU, has dialled back or phased out cer- tain environmental rules such as regarding the duty of vigilance and CSR disclosure, mainly to cushion ener- gy‑price and inflation shocks, address competitive- ness gaps with the US and China, respond to social pressures, and manage administrative feasibility. On the other hand, France has strengthened its cli- mate-energy trajectory through its ecological plan, presented on 25 September 2023, which sets sec- toral targets and roadmaps, as well as through the Multi-Year Energy Program (PPE) adopted by decree in 2020, and revised in 2024-25 to align the mix and investments with the strengthened objectives. Anoth- er example is the AGEC law of 10 February 2020, which continues its rollout through regulatory waves, reflecting concrete progress in the circular economy, notably with new bans on single-use plastics, with multiple decrees issued between 2020 and 2024, and new deadlines coming into effect in 2024-25.
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