The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) was transposed into French law in December 2023, by the Ordinance 2023-1142 of 6 December 2023 "on the publication and certification of sustainability reporting and the environmental, social and corporate governance obligations of commercial companies" and the Decree 2023-1394 of 30 December 2023. The law envisions a progressive timetable: large listed companies with a market turnover of more than € 40 million or a balance sheet above € 20 million and more than 500 employees on average have to publish their sustainability report in 2025 on their environmental, social and governance-related aspects. For other large companies, the publication date is set as 2026, and for SMEs listed in EU-regulated markets, it is 2027. As a result, companies will disclose sustainability information in line with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which are based on the principle of “double materiality”.

In the discussions on the EU Omnibus Package, France has proposedamendments to the CSRD, such as the simplification and a possible delay of 4 years of its implementation for SMEs. Following the adoption of the “Stop-the-Clock” Directive by the European Parliament, France has transposed it into national legislation by adopting the law No. 2025-391. Large non-listed companies’ first reporting obligation is postponed to 2028, and listed SMEs will report in 2029. The law also includes an exemption for certain information that might be considered as harming the company’s commercial position.

France has not yet transposed the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) into national law. In the discussions around the Omnibus Package, France, along with Germany, called for the full elimination of the CSDDD to reduce the regulatory and compliance burdens on companies and help improve their competitiveness against US and Chinese companies. Following the adoption of the “Stop-the-Clock” Directive by the European Parliament, France has transposed it into national legislation by adopting the law No. 2025-391. This Directive extends the deadline for Member States to transpose the CSDDD by one year to 26 July 2027. The law also includes an exemption for certain information that might be considered as harming the company’s commercial position.

Different from other Member States, France already has a law in place which is similar to the CSDDD. The Duty of Vigilance Law, which passed in 2017, places the duty of due diligence and reporting with an annual vigilance plan on large companies that have more than 5,000 employees in the company's direct or indirect French-based subsidiaries and with more than 10,000 employees if including direct and indirect subsidiaries globally. The vigilance plan of companies must establish effective measures to identify risks and prevent severe impacts on human rights and the environment that might result from the companies’ own activities and companies that are controlled directly or indirectly, such as subsidiaries, subcontractors and suppliers. Between 2017 and 2024, 13 lawsuits and 30 formal notices have been filed under the law, with the first ruling in 2023.

France transposed the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive (2019/1937) into its law as Law n° 2022-401 of 21 March 2022, aiming at improving the protection of whistleblowers, amending the law of 9 December 2016 that is known as the “Sapin 2 Act”, which provided a general whistleblowing regulation and a protection of whistleblowers. The new law has been applicable since 1 September 2022 for companies and public institutions having at least 50 employees, as well as municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The main new provisions, in addition to those specified in the EU Directive, are a broader definition of whistleblowers and an extended protection of whistleblowers. A whistleblower is defined as follows: “the physical person who reports or discloses, without direct financial compensation and in good faith, information concerning a crime, an offence, a threat or harm to the general interest, a violation or an attempt to conceal a violation of international or European Union law, the law or the regulations" and the protections are extended to former staff members, members of staff and of the administrative management or supervisory body of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, and facilitators, including NGOs who assist reporting. In addition, a wider material scope is adopted, such that whistleblowers who report harm to the public interest will be protected, even if no breach of EU or national law is involved. Finally, support measures are extended, including providing financial and psychological assistance and funding to cover legal fees.

The transposition of the EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions into French law was done through Decree n° 2023-1004 of 30 October 2023, passing the deadline of 1 August 2022. The decree envisions that employers must provide information to employees related to the specifics of the employment relationship in written documents, such as the right to training, termination procedures, duration and conditions of the trial period.

France has delayed the transposition of the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages into national law. The Directive is only partially transposed into French Law through Decree No. 2024-1065 of 26 November 2024, which states that, at least every four years, the Minister for Labour needs to assess the adequacy of minimum wages based on the following reference values, known as the “double decency threshold”:

• 60% of the median net monthly salary of full-time equivalent employees;

• 50% of the average net monthly full-time equivalent wage.

The Labour Code (Code du travail) provides the legal basis for the statutory minimum wage in France, as well as the rules for its periodic adjustment and its scope of application. The law sets a minimum wage (salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance, SMIC) for all employees, with some exceptions for employees under the age of 18, apprentices and trainees. In 2025, the minimum wage (SMIC) is €1,426.30 net per month (€1,801.80 gross) and €9.40 net per hour (€11.88 gross), subject to differences depending on professional status and contract.

The EU Posted Workers Directive is transposed into French Labour Law by Government Ordinance no. 2019-116 of 20 February 2019, effective from 30 July 2020. The most important measures are as follows:

• The same level of remuneration as local employees applies to posted workers;

• All rules valid for local workers apply to posted workers;

• The posting of workers is limited to 12 months, with the possibility of six months of extension. From the thirteenth or eighteenth month, the posted worker is not only subject to ‘hard core’ rules but to the provisions of the Labour Code applicable to companies established on French territory.

The latest regulation in response to the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is RE2020, which replaced RT2012 by including the entire life cycle of a building to measure its environmental impact during its construction period and operational use. The main objectives are achieving energy efficiency, decarbonising energy use, reducing the built environment's carbon footprint, and finally, adapting buildings to climate change. The regulation applies to the construction of all new buildings since 1 January 2022, and it is extended to apply to all new offices, public buildings and schools from July 2022. The timetable is as follows:

• Residential, from 1 January 2022;

• Offices, primary or secondary education from 1 July 2022;

• Construction and extensions of small residential, office, or primary or secondary education spaces from 1 January 2023;

• Light leisure dwellings (HLL) <50m² subject to urban planning formalities from 1 January 2023;

• Temporary residential, office, or primary or secondary education constructions from 1 July 2023;

• Light leisure dwellings < 35m² are exempt from urban planning formalities from 1 July 2023.

The progress is monitored through the RE2020 Observatory, which aims to provide transparent monitoring of RE2020 public policy.

The EPBD is also applied to public buildings via the National Low-Carbon Strategy, which requires all public buildings to undergo energy renovation by 2030 to cut their energy consumption by 60%.

Starting from 1 July 2021, the Energy Performance Diagnosis (Diagnostic de performance énergétique – DPE), in line with the Climate and Resilience Law, makes it mandatory to carry out energy diagnosis for all residential buildings with the following timetable:

• 1 January 2024, for single-ownership buildings and for co-ownerships of more than 200 lots;

• 1 January 2025, for co-ownerships between 50 and 200 lots;

• 1 January 2026, for co-ownership of up to 50 lots.

In line with the EPBD, France is supposed to draft a National Building Renovation Plan (NBRP). This process is in its preliminary stages, and additional information on the plan's status and development is expected after the summer period.

Regarding the transposition of the EED, the draft National Energy Climate Plan (NECP), which was submitted to the European Commission in October 2023, targets a 30% reduction in final energy consumption in 2030 compared to 2012 and is in the consultation process for aligning national regulations with the recast Directive.

In France, the updated EU Waste Framework Directive ((EU) 2018/851) was transposed into national law by the Law of 10 February 2020, relating to the fight against waste and for the circular economy (Loi relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l’économie circulaire), which provides the framework for the elimination of waste and adoption of circular strategies, also known as the AGEC law.

For the construction waste, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme has been operational since January 2023, which aims to better manage resources and promote the reuse of construction materials. The Environmental Code Article L541-10 states that any natural or legal person involved in the development, production, management, processing, sale, or importation of products or materials that generate waste is required to execute or support measures aimed at waste prevention and should embrace eco-design strategies for their products. For the construction sector, all producers of Building Products and Materials (BPM) are subject to these waste management obligations, such as they must join an approved eco-organisation and pay eco-contributions for the products concerned.

The construction sector accounts for 43% of France's annual energy consumption and generates 23% of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To reduce these rates, France regulates, promotes, and raises awareness among industry stakeholders for the aim of achieving a level of energy performance in the construction and renovation of the built environment. To that end, Article 301 of the Climate and Resilience Act provides a road map for the construction sector, with the objective of renovating the entire existing residential and commercial stock in order to achieve energy-efficient and low greenhouse gas-emitting buildings by 2050, achieving carbon-free energy consumption during the use phase of the buildings, increasing energy performance for new buildings and energy efficiency of equipment. Below are some examples of these regulations:

The decree of 22 March 2017 covers the thermal characteristics and energy performance of existing buildings. When a project owner decides to replace or install an insulation element, heating, hot water production, cooling, ventilation, or lighting equipment (the latter item only concerns commercial buildings), they must install products with a performance higher than the minimum characteristics mentioned in the decree of May 3, 2007, amended on January 1, 2018.

Éco Énergie Tertiaire (EET) requires all commercial buildings to reduce the final energy consumption of the entire tertiary sector by at least -40% in 2030, -50% in 2040, -60% in 2050 (compared to 2010).

For the renovation of buildings, an order from October 2023 related to the Building and Housing Code introduced two labels: the “Low-Energy Building Renovation" (BBC renovation) and "High Energy Performance Renovation" (HPE renovation) labels. Effective for the residential buildings from 2024, it aims to achieve high-performance, comfortable, and sustainable buildings, with optimal construction costs with energy renovation, insulation and efficient heating and cooling systems. With this regulation, it is not possible to obtain the label with the installation of heating systems based primarily on fossil fuels.

Decree No. 2015-1770 and the order of 24 December 2015, relating to accessibility for disabled people to new collective residential buildings (BHC) and individual houses (MI), have amended the Construction and Housing Code (CCH) and updated the regulatory obligations regarding accessibility.

The ‘MaPrimeRénov’ programme is a tax credit scheme specifically targeting residential building renovations to achieve performance levels exceeding minimum requirements. Examples of additional finance schemes are France’s ‘Coup de Pouce’ programme, which offers immediate rebates up to €4,000 for heating system replacements and zero-interest eco-loans to accelerate retrofits.