Background information

The national cross-industry agreement (ANI) of 11 April 2023 on the ecological transition and social dialogue provides social dialogue actors with examples and best practices for meeting the challenge of the ecological transition in companies. It does not include any new obligations for employers or require any changes to existing legislation. The preamble to the agreement states that 'existing legal tools provide a framework for organising social dialogue that takes account of environmental issues'. The agreement, signed by all the social partners with the exception of the CGT and CFE-CGC, covers five chapters aimed at:

• identifying the levers for change in the context of informed social dialogue on the ecological transition;
• enabling social dialogue to address environmental issues at company level;
• integrating environmental issues into collective bargaining;
• addressing environmental issues in regional and sectoral social dialogue forums;
• addressing issues relating to jobs and skills in the implementation of the ecological transition.

Content of measure

For each chapter, the agreement contains reminders of the legislation in force, referred to as 'legal benchmarks', as well as 'practical benchmarks for nurturing and deepening social dialogue' in the form of recommendations addressed to those involved in social dialogue.

Best practice in environmental social dialogue The recommendations addressed to the social partners are numerous. The agreement suggests, for example, that a regular item on environmental policy should be included on the agenda of the works council (CSE) in companies with more than 50 employees, or that additional committees dedicated to environmental issues should be set up within the CSE, with their own budgets. It also advocates the setting up of a committee dedicated to the ecological transition and sustainable development or to CSR within the governance bodies.

New competencies of the CSE The agreement specifies the Climate Act of 22 August 2021, which gives the CSE new powers in environmental matters. In particular, its consultations must take into account the "environmental consequences" of decisions and measures taken by the company. However, the Labour Code does not define the concept of "environmental consequences". The signatories propose to draw inspiration from various existing texts, with the aim that a project with little or no environmental impact could therefore be the subject of "brief information" from the CSE, and conversely, a project likely to have a significant environmental impact should be the subject of more detailed and consistent information.

Information to include in the economic, social and environmental database By way of example, the agreement proposes a number of items of information and indicators that could be added to the economic, social and environmental database (BDESE), which is intended to provide employee representatives with information and economic, social and environmental data. The agreement suggests incorporating the greenhouse gas emissions balance sheet (BEGES) on a broader scope, making it possible to assess all the emissions emitted by the company (in companies with more than 500 employees); the consumption of raw materials or land use; or indicators of resource use, such as the quantity of water used or KWh consumed.

Follow-up A joint monitoring committee has been set up to 'take stock of changes in practices, analyse the implementation and impact of social dialogue on the ecological transition on the operation of the company, and assess the scope of the agreement'.

Use of measure

The agreement applies to all business and the whole workforce of the private sector.

However, the implementation of this agreement has been challenging. The agreement stipulates that a meeting should be held at the end of the year with all stakeholders to determine which indicators should be monitored within companies. The CFTC criticized the largest employer organization, MEDEF, for not adhering to this aspect of the agreement and slowing down discussions.

Contents

• Other topics

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment Workers in non-standard forms of employment	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Social partners jointly	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

The representative peak level social partners have negotiated the agreement that have been signed by all employers' organisation and three of the five trade union confederation representing 59.65% of the electoral weight at cross-industry level.

Views and reactions

All employers’ organisations welcomed the agreement.

The CFDT, CFTC and FO expressed their satisfaction with the content of the agreement. The CFDT considers that a non-prescriptive text can encourage social dialogue in branches and companies, along the lines of the ANI on teleworking of 26 November 2020. The CFTC regrets that one of its main demands was not taken up by the employers: to make part of the remuneration of managers subject to environmental criteria. For FO, ‘the challenge is to reconcile the need to act for the planet with the interests of workers. Negotiations have resulted in a draft agreement that can help us make this shift’.

According to the CGT, however, the agreement ‘lacks ambition’: ‘The interprofessional agreement could have been an opportunity to grant supra-legal means to staff representatives. But it didn't’, laments the CGT. In addition, ‘It could also have envisaged a reduction in working hours, as several university studies confirm that this is a lever for reducing CO2 emissions’. But ‘instead, the agreement advocates flex offices to save square metres, even though this is detrimental to well-being and health in the workplace. Worse still, it plans to include environmental criteria in the calculation of employee profit-sharing", the union criticises’.

Sources

• 22 August 2021: Loi n° 2021-1104 du 22 août 2021 portant lutte contre le dérèglement climatique et renforcement de la résilience face à ses effets (www.legifrance.gouv.fr)
• 11 April 2023: Accord national interprofessionnel du 11 avril 2023 relatif à la transition écologique et au dialogue social (www.legifrance.gouv.fr)
• 13 April 2023: Liaisons sociales (2023), Dialogue social et écologie : un projet d’ANI sans nouvelle contrainte est ouvert à la signature (www.liaisons-sociales.fr)
• 02 February 2024: Arrêté du 22 janvier 2024 portant extension de l'accord national interprofessionnel du 11 avril 2023 relatif à la transition écologique et au dialogue social (n° 20339) (www.legifrance.gouv.fr)
• 20 August 2024: Franck Don : « La CFTC milite pour une transition écologique proactive, mais progressive » (www.cftc.fr)