Background information

Adopted as part of the French Green Industry Act, which came into force on 14 March 2024, the C3IV aims to support companies in financing key industrial projects for the energy transition, and to help France position itself as a leader in green industry in Europe. It facilitates industrial investment with the aim of creating 40,000 jobs in sectors linked to the energy transition.

Content of measure

The tax credit for investment in green industry (C3IV) is deployed to support the financing of green industrial projects. According to the government, this scheme ‘is currently one of the most attractive incentives in Europe for supporting green industries’. The C3IV is designed to enable companies to carry out new industrial projects in four key sectors of the energy transition:

• batteries
• wind energy
• solar panels
• and heat pumps.

This tax credit supports the entire production chain in these sectors, from the production of essential equipment and components, to the production or recovery of critical raw materials. Companies with a project for the production of essential components or critical raw materials will have to prove that at least 50% of their turnover will be generated with companies carrying out production activities downstream of the production chain in the four sectors mentioned above.

Use of measure

No assessment available.

On 15 March 2023, 20 project developers submitted C3IV applications, according to the Ministry of the Economy and Finance. It takes three months to process a project application, according to the deadlines communicated by the Ministry of the Economy. Of these applications, eight were submitted for the battery sector, five for the wind energy sector, six for the heat pump sector and one for the photovoltaic panel sector, representing a total investment of €1.8 billion, of which 44% was for the battery sector, according to Bercy.

But as example, we can mention the investment announced in October 2023, by Atlantic, France's leading heat pump manufacturer. Atlantic chose the town of Chalon (Saône-et-Loire) as the site for a new factory in France. The plant, which will start production in 2025, is expected to produce 180,000 units by 2028, doubling the group's current output. The group's investment of nearly €150 million will initially create 300 jobs by 2027. At the time, management stated that the project was 'conditional on obtaining a tax credit for green industries (C3IV), which is included in the finance bill to be voted on at the end of December 2023'. Groupe Atlantic has 31 sites worldwide, including 13 in France, and employs a total of 13,000 people.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	National funds

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Social partners were not involved in the design of the measure.

Views and reactions

No information available on this specific measure, but trade unions expected more generous provisions in the Green industry law.

Sources

• 23 October 2023: Loi n° 2023-973 du 23 octobre 2023 relative à l'industrie verte (www.legifrance.gouv.fr)
• 11 March 2024: Décret n° 2024-212 du 11 mars 2024 fixant la date d'entrée en vigueur des dispositions relatives au crédit d'impôt au titre des investissements dans l'industrie verte prévues à l'article 35 de la loi n° 2023-1322 du 29 décembre 2023 de finances pour 2024 (www.legifrance.gouv.fr)