The Autorité de la concurrence launches a public consultation as part of a review of informal guidance in the area of sustainability
Background
As part of its “open door” policy, the Autorité has encouraged – since May 2024 – undertakings, professional bodies and non-governmental organisations wishing to develop projects with a sustainability objective to get in touch. In order to better support undertakings in their efforts, the Autorité offers a flexible framework in which they can submit a request for guidance in assessing the compatibility of their projects with competition rules.
Two years after the adoption of the framework, the Autorité is undertaking an initial review of the tool and is launching a public consultation to seek stakeholders’ feedback, regardless of whether they have used the tool.
The public consultation will run until 31 July 2026.
Any stakeholders that wish to discuss the tool, in addition to the questionnaire itself, can also contact the General Rapporteur at the following address: developpement-durable@autoritedelaconcurrence.fr.
Informal guidance
Sustainability is a key priority for the Autorité, as stated in its 2025-2026 roadmap.
To that end, the Autorité adopts a balanced position, taking resolute action against anticompetitive practices that are the most harmful in terms of sustainability and using its advisory powers to inform stakeholders of the competition issues linked to the transition (ecological/environmental).
In addition, since the publication in May 2024 of the notice on informal guidance from the Autorité in the area of sustainability, undertakings wishing to develop projects with a sustainability objective can receive guidance from the Autorité in assessing the compatibility of their project with competition rules.
To date, the Autorité has issued five informal guidance letters, all of which have been published on its website. The guidance covers a wide range of sectors and issues, reflecting the cross-cutting nature of sustainability considerations:
- Informal guidance 24-DD-01 of 14 June 2024 on a standardised methodology for calculating products’ environmental footprint in the animal nutrition sector.
- Informal guidance 25-DD-01 of 29 January 2025 on the creation of a system for the collective financing of the additional costs and risks associated with the agro-ecological transition.
- Informal guidance 25-DD-02 of 23 October 2025 on the creation of a platform for collecting and sharing data on suppliers’ carbon footprints in the French retail sector.
- Informal guidance 26-DD-01 of 4 February 2026 on a project to deploy a standardised deposit-return scheme for food packaging in France.
- Informal guidance 26-DD-02 of 20 March 2026 on the adoption and implementation by retailers of a voluntary charter of commitments to promote products with strong sustainability performance.
All the letters are available in on the Autorité de la concurrence website, here.
The Autorité launches a public consultation to assess the tool
Two years after the adoption of the framework, the Autorité is undertaking an initial review of the tool.
To that end, the Autorité is seeking feedback from all economic stakeholders, regardless of whether they have used the tool.
The public consultation, in the form of a questionnaire (French only), will run until 31 July 2026.
Responses to the questionnaire will be without prejudice to respondents. They will be treated anonymously, will not be published individually and will be given equal consideration.
Any stakeholders that wish to discuss the tool, in addition to the questionnaire itself, can also contact the General Rapporteur at the following address: developpement-durable@autoritedelaconcurrence.fr.
The Autorité will publish a review of its informal guidance policy as soon as possible following analysis of the feedback from the public consultation and any specific consultations.
Contact(s)
