FRANCE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Rima Maitrehenry, Racine
Background On 23 October 2023, France adopted the Green Industry Act ( Loi sur l’Industrie Verte No 2023- 973) (the “Act”). The Act has three main objec - tives: • facilitating the establishment and develop - ment of industrial sites; • encouraging virtuous companies in public Firstly, the Act aims to simplify the establishment of economic activity as well as the setting-up of industrial projects such as wind power, photo - voltaics, heat pumps, batteries and low-carbon hydrogen, by instituting simultaneous adminis - trative appraisal of such projects along with pub - lic consultation. In particular, the Act introduces a simplified exceptional procedure controlled by the State for industrial projects of major national interest. It also seeks to accelerate the redevel - opment of brownfield sites and to facilitate the implementation of compensation obligations for project developers who have an impact on bio - diversity. procurement processes; and • financing the green industry. Secondly, the Act aims to “greenify” public procurement law, notably through an optional exclusion from procedures for the awarding of public contracts and concession contracts of companies that do not comply with their obli - gations under Directive (EU) No 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 (the Corporate Sustainabil - ity Reporting Directive (CSRD)) and of compa - nies that do not comply with their obligations to draw up a precise diagnosis of their greenhouse emissions in line with the French Environmental Code.
Finally, the financing of the green industry is an objective with considerable impact on alterna - tive investment funds and fund managers in France. This has led to various measures, includ - ing amendments to certain rules applicable to life insurance contracts and retirement savings (in order to direct these savings towards unlist - ed investments) and improvement of the French legal rules governing certain investment funds (so as to facilitate their eligibility for the ELTIF label created by Regulation (EU) No 2015/760 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 2023/606 of 15 March 2023). These are dis - cussed in more detail below. Amendment to Life Insurance Contracts and Retirement Savings The life insurance industry in France is a cor - nerstone for personal savings, offering individu - als a tax-efficient way to invest for the future while providing financial security for beneficiar - ies. It is dominated by large insurance groups and banks, offering diverse contracts ranging from traditional guaranteed-return products to unit-linked policies tied to market performance. Regulatory frameworks, including Solvency II, ensure the industry’s stability and customer pro - tection, while tax advantages drive its popularity. However, by end of 2023, only 7% of life insur - ance contracts savings were invested in unlisted securities. The Act intended to make policyholders more aware of the challenges of the green economy and encourage them to invest in the ecological transition. To this end, various measures have been adopted: • the creation of a new climate saving plan; • the introduction of a minimum share of green investments in life insurance contracts; and
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