France has transposed the CSRD into its national law, becoming the first EU member state to do so (the deadline for member states is July 2024).<\/p>\n
CSRD puts sustainability reporting and governance processes at the top of the agenda.<\/strong> Do you have a system in place to meet these new requirements?<\/p>\n According to French law, the new article L. 821-2 in the trade code states that the auditor shall follow<\/p>\n Where appropriate, the auditor shall make recommendations to ensure the integrity of these processes.<\/p>\n The French corporate governance report must now also contain a description of the main characteristics of the company’s internal control and risk management systems as part of the financial reporting process.<\/p>\n In addition, the disclosure requirement GOV\u20135 in ESRS 2 mandates the company to describe:<\/p>\n If you have not yet set up a system to manage these new obligations, do not hesitate to contact us. The Cleerit ESG solution will get you compliant in just a few days for only \u20ac65 per month and user.<\/p>\n The CSRD has been transposed into French law (2023-1142 dated 6\/12\/2023). It replaces the previous non-financial reporting rules (“DPEF” in France), and the French “SAS” companies are now also included in the scope of the directive.<\/p>\n This obligation responds to the growing need for sustainability information expressed by financial institutions and many other stakeholders, including customers, social partners, public authorities and non-governmental organizations.<\/p>\n The required information will represent a strong incentive for companies to take virtuous actions in the areas concerned.<\/p>\n In the event of non-compliance<\/strong><\/p>\n A person who has been unable to obtain the sustainability report from a company will have the right to ask the president of the court, ruling in summary proceedings under penalty, to order the company to communicate the report. Procedural costs, where applicable, will be charged to the company.<\/p>\n Economic actors who do not meet their obligation to publish a sustainability report will also be excluded from public procurement procedures and concession contracts.<\/p>\n Mandatory audit<\/strong><\/p>\n The directive mandates that the sustainability report be audited, initially with limited assurance (i.e. covering the absence of material misstatement).<\/p>\n Previously, the auditor simply had to verify the presence of the “DPEF” in the management report, without controlling its content.<\/p>\n The certification report must be communicated to the shareholders within six months from the closing of the financial year.<\/p>\n A director of a legal person or entity required to have its sustainability report certified, is punishable by imprisonment of 2 years and a fine of 30,000 euros, if an independent third party organization registered on the list of professionals authorized to carry out the sustainability audit has not been appointed.<\/p>\n Obstructing the verification, or refusing to communicate on site all documents useful for carrying out the audit mission, is punishable by imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of 75,000 euros.<\/p>\n French text:<\/strong><\/p>\n La CSRD est d\u00e9sormais transpos\u00e9e en droit fran\u00e7ais par l\u2019ordonnance no 2023-1142 du 6\/12\/2023. Elle remplace les r\u00e8gles relatives \u00e0 la DPEF, et les soci\u00e9t\u00e9s par actions simplifi\u00e9es sont int\u00e9gr\u00e9es dans le champ de la directive.<\/p>\n Cette obligation r\u00e9pond au besoin croissant d’informations en mati\u00e8re de durabilit\u00e9 exprim\u00e9 par les institutions financi\u00e8res et par de nombreuses autres parties prenantes, dont les clients, les partenaires sociaux, les pouvoirs publics et les organisations non-gouvernementales.<\/p>\n Les cat\u00e9gories d’informations demand\u00e9es repr\u00e9sentent ainsi une incitation forte pour les soci\u00e9t\u00e9s concern\u00e9es \u00e0 engager des actions vertueuses dans les domaines concern\u00e9s.<\/p>\n En cas de non-conformit\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n Toute personne n\u2019ayant pu obtenir la production, la communication ou la transmission des documents ou informations pr\u00e9vus, aura le droit de demander au pr\u00e9sident du tribunal statuant en r\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9 soit d\u2019enjoindre sous astreinte \u00e0 la personne ou \u00e0 l\u2019organe comp\u00e9tent pour la production, la communication ou la transmission des documents ou informations de les communiquer, soit de d\u00e9signer un mandataire charg\u00e9 de proc\u00e9der \u00e0 cette communication.<\/p>\n Les frais de proc\u00e9dure sont, le cas \u00e9ch\u00e9ant, mis \u00e0 la charge de la personne ou de l\u2019organe comp\u00e9tent.<\/p>\n Est \u00e9galement introduit dans la partie l\u00e9gislative du code de la commande publique un nouveau dispositif d’exclusion des proc\u00e9dures de passation des march\u00e9s publics et des contrats de concession pour les op\u00e9rateurs \u00e9conomiques qui ne satisfont pas \u00e0 leur obligation de publication d’informations en mati\u00e8re de durabilit\u00e9.<\/p>\n Audit obligatoire<\/strong><\/p>\n La directive pr\u00e9voit \u00e9galement que les informations en mati\u00e8re de durabilit\u00e9 publi\u00e9es soient obligatoirement audit\u00e9es, dans un premier temps, selon une norme d’assurance limit\u00e9e – c’est-\u00e0-dire portant sur l’absence d’anomalie significative.<\/p>\n Auparavant, le commissaire aux comptes devait simplement v\u00e9rifier la pr\u00e9sence de la DPEF au sein du rapport de gestion, sans en contr\u00f4ler le contenu.<\/p>\n Le rapport de certification doit \u00eatre communiqu\u00e9 aux associ\u00e9s dans le d\u00e9lai de six mois \u00e0 compter de la cl\u00f4ture de l\u2019exercice comptable.<\/p>\n Est puni d\u2019un emprisonnement de deux ans et d\u2019une amende de 30 000 euros le fait, pour tout dirigeant d\u2019une personne morale ou entit\u00e9 tenue de faire certifier ses informations en mati\u00e8re de durabilit\u00e9, de ne pas provoquer la d\u00e9signation d\u2019un organisme tiers ind\u00e9pendant inscrit sur la liste des professionnels autoris\u00e9s \u00e0 proc\u00e9der \u00e0 l\u2019audit de durabilit\u00e9.<\/p>\n Est puni d\u2019un emprisonnement de cinq ans et d\u2019une amende de 75 000 euros le fait de mettre obstacle aux v\u00e9rifications ou de refuser la communication sur place de toutes les pi\u00e8ces utiles \u00e0 l\u2019exercice de la mission d\u2019audit.<\/p>\n\n
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