France and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

The French government has published a decree transposing the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) into national law.The management of the undertaking must inform workers' representatives and discuss relevant information, while the French works council must receive annual reports.

The bottom line: The French government is the first to implement 

Why it matters: The CSRD requires companies to track and report on over 2,000 data points, with penalties for non-compliance set by national governments. The French legislation sets specific penalties for failure to publish, failure to appoint an independent third party, and obstructing the audit responsibilities of the third party.

The bottom line: The French government is the first to implement the CSRD, which will affect approximately 50,000 companies in Europe.

Additional material:

The French have set the penalties as follows:

• Failure to publish: €3,750 fine plus possibility of an injunction.
• Failure to appoint an “OTI” (organisme tiers independent – independent 3^rd party): 2 years imprisonment + €30k fine.
• Putting obstacles in the way of the OTI discharging its audit responsibilities: 5 years imprisonment + €75k fine.
• Appointment of a conflicted OTI: €500k fine for non-listed companies or, for listed companies, twice the profit earned due to the misdemeanor or fees for 3 years or €1 million.