Responsibility of the Statutory Auditor appointed as independent third party
Based on our work, our responsibility is to express a limited assurance conclusion on:
- the compliance of the Statement with the requirements of Article R. 225-105 of the French Commercial Code;
- the fairness of the information provided pursuant to part 3 of sections I and II of Article R. 225-105 of the French Commercial Code, i.e. the outcomes of policies, including key performance indicators, and measures relating to the main risks, here in after the “Information.”
As it is our responsibility to issue an independent conclusion on the information prepared by management, we are not authorised to participate in the preparation of the Information, as this could compromise our independence.
It is not our responsibility to provide a conclusion on:
- the Company’s compliance with other applicable legal and regulatory provisions (particularly with regard to the information set‑out in Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 (Green taxonomy), the duty of vigilance and the fight against corruption and tax evasion);
- the fairness of information set-out in Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 (Green taxonomy);
- the compliance of products and services with the applicable regulations.
Applicable regulatory provisions and professional guidance
We performed the work described below in accordance with our audit verification programme in application of Articles A. 225-1et seq. of the French Commercial Code, the professional guidance issued by the French Institute of Statutory Auditors (Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes) relating to this engagement and with the international standard ISAE 3000 (revised - Assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information).
Independence and quality control
Our independence is defined by Article L. 822-11-3 of the French Commercial Code and French Code of Ethics for Statutory Auditors (Code de déontologie). In addition, we have implemented a system of quality control including documented policies and procedures aimed at ensuring compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, ethical requirements and the professional guidance issued by the French Institute of Statutory Auditors (Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes) relating to this engagement.
Means and resources
Our work engaged the skills of nine people between September 2022 and February 2023 and took a total of twenty-four weeks.
To assist us in conducting our work, we referred to our corporate social responsibility and sustainable development experts. We conducted around thirty interviews with people responsible for preparing the Statement.
This work involved the use of information and communication technologies allowing the work and interviews to be carried out remotely, without hindering the good execution of the verification process.
Nature and scope of procedures
We planned and performed our work taking account of the risk of material misstatement of the Information.
We consider that the procedures conducted in exercising our professional judgement enable us to express a limited assurance conclusion:
- We familiarized ourselves with the activities of all companies in the consolidation scope and the description of the principal risks.
- We assessed the suitability of the Guidelines with respect to their relevance, completeness, reliability, neutrality and clarity, taking into account, where appropriate, best practices within the sector.
- We verified that the Statement covers each category of information stipulated in section III of Article L. 225-102-1 governing social and environmental affairs, respect for human rights and the fight against corruption and tax evasion. We verified that the Statement provides the information required under Article R.225-105 II of the French Commercial Code where relevant with respect to the principal risks, and includes, where applicable, an explanation for the absence of the information required under Article L.225-102-1 III, paragraph 2 of the French Commercial Code.
- We verified that the Statement presents the business model and a description of the principal risks associated with the activities of all the consolidated entities, including where relevant and proportionate, the risks associated with their business relationships, their products or services, as well as their policies, measures and the outcomes thereof, including key performance indicators associated to the principal risks.
- We referred to documentary sources and conducted interviews to:
- assess the process used to identify and confirm the principal risks as well as the consistency of the outcomes, including the key performance indicators used, with respect to the principal risks and the policies presented; and
- corroborate the qualitative information (measures and outcomes) that we considered to be the most important - disclosed in Annex 1 - ; for certain risks or information, (human resources, health and safety, human, social and environmental rights, etc.), our work was carried out on the consolidating entity, while for other risks, our work was carried out on the consolidating entity and on a selection of entities.
