Transposition by france of the csrd directive

07 December 2023

CSRD directive

Publication

Transposition

Reporting

Sustainability

Transposed on 6 December and officially published by order in the Official Journal on 7 December, France is taking a step forward by being one of the first countries to adopt this text. It represents a significant step forward in France's commitment to promoting sustainability and transparency through companies.

A major turning point for companies, this step encourages the adoption of more sustainable business practices, promoting a corporate culture focused on social and environmental responsibility and not simply a strengthening of reporting obligations.

The CSRD aims to remedy some of the shortcomings identified in the Directive on the publication of non-financial information (NFRD):

Introduce the need to provide more detailed information on the environmental, social and human rights impact of companies, based on common criteria aligned with the EU's climate objectives (principle of double materiality): in particular, to ensure its reliability, the information provided by companies is subject to certification and independent audits;
Extend the scope of application to all large companies, whether listed or not, as well as to non-European companies with significant activity in the EU (turnover in excess of €150 million).

Published in the Official Journal (JO RF 7 déc. 2023, text 19), Order no. 2023-1142 of 6 December 2023 on the publication and certification of sustainability information and the environmental, social and corporate governance obligations of commercial companies transposes the measures contained in the directive into French law.

This order :

Amends the rules on the EPFD in national law to replace them with an obligation to publish sustainability information, in accordance with the requirements of the Directive;
Modifies the rules governing the practice of the profession of statutory auditor in that they may be responsible for auditing sustainability information :
- Amendments to the rules on the licence to audit sustainability information, including transitional provisions for auditors registered before 1 January 2026;
- Adaptation of the rules on professional ethics, independence and professional secrecy ;
- Adaptation of the rules applicable to the appointment and dismissal of statutory auditors.
Removes the option in the Directive to allow independent third party organisations (ITOs) to audit sustainability information;
As a result of the extension of its remit, and the supervision of players other than statutory auditors, the H3C is renamed the High Audit Authority (H2A): its powers and remit as well as its organisation are reformed;
Articulates and harmonises, in a clear and coherent manner, other measures that are linked to or pursue the same objectives as the CSRD :
- Simplification and clarification of other CSR reporting systems, based on the new framework for the publication of sustainability information resulting from the CSRD;
- Creation of common definitions of the different sizes of companies and groups, which will make it possible to rationalise the approach to thresholds in Book II of the Commercial Code;
- Unification of injunction procedures to ensure the effectiveness of these different systems.

The order will come into force on 1 January 2024.

To do this, companies need to (re)organise themselves to meet the requirements of the CSRD directive. To help organisations meet these challenges, our Impact teams are at your side to carry out :