Conformity

As part of the objectives entrusted to it by the State, Business France and all of its employees undertake to contribute to the international development of businesses in each of its three
divisions: Export, Attractiveness and the VIE international internship program.

Our teams work daily to meet the Agency’s public service remit and promote France abroad. Thevery essence of our business requires employees to conduct themselves to the highest standard, both internally and with our partners and clients, whether they are in France or abroad.

Business France has implemented a comprehensive governance and risk management system based on the following pillars:

• A risk map updated annually, which includes the corruption risk map.
• An annual audit plan approved by the Audit and Ethics Committee.
• A certification of the accounts presented to the Board of Directors.
• An audit by the Court of Auditors every five years.

This Code of Ethics underpins our corporate culture.

It specifies the rules and principles, which constitute the reference framework for all of our workers, beyond the rules of common law applicable to all employees. Everyone undertakes to respect these rules from as soon as they start work at the Agency. This Code is also intended as a tool for making decisions and resolving any cases encountered, in particular by identifying the right contacts. It is supplemented by an internal Code of Conduct, which is intended to facilitate the application of its rules on a daily basis and to specify the systems put in place.

To make our operating methods as transparent as possible, this Code applies not only to our employees but also to our associates (notably our clients, suppliers, partners, etc.).

Business France has set up a Compliance Team, made up of representatives from our teams in Paris, France’s regions and abroad. An Ethics Officer has also been appointed. They may be called upon at any time, internally or externally, to answer any questions relating to the
interpretation or application of this Code of Ethics, or in the event of a potential conflict of interest, via the following address: Referent-Deontologue@businessfrance.fr

A whistleblowing system has also been created, with a special contact email address: ReferentLA@businessfrance.fr. It enables any employee and any third party of Business France to report in a completely confidential manner any act contrary to ethics, regulations and integrity. In compliance with the law, Business France undertakes to protect whistleblowers and respect their anonymity.

Law No. 78-753 of July 17, 1978, codified in Book III of the Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration (CRPA), established the principle of freedom of access to administrative documents. Thus, any person who requests it has the right to obtain communication of administrative documents.

The request must concern an existing administrative document.

Therefore, the right of access does not oblige the administration to create new documents to respond to requests.

The right of access applies to all documents, regardless of their form and medium, produced by administrative authorities, but also to documents they receive from private individuals

.

To preserve the serenity of the administration’s action and limit the constraints imposed on it by the right of access, the administration is not obliged to communicate documents that are:

• unfinished, i.e., in the process of being prepared,
• preparatory to a decision as long as it has not been made,
• publicly available.

Furthermore, the communication of documents may also be partial, in accordance with articles L311-5 and L.311-6 of the Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration, by redacting information covered by privacy/industrial and commercial secrecy.

Administrations are not required to respond to requests that are manifestly abusive due to their volume or frequency and made with the intention of hindering the activity of the services.

To meet these obligations, Business France has appointed a Person Responsible for Access to Administrative Documents (referred to as PRADA).

Any request related to access to administrative documents must be sent to the following address: prada@businessfrance.fr