2023 universal registration document

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, hereinafter the “Information.”

As we are engaged to form an independent conclusion on the Information as prepared by management, we are not permitted to be involved in the preparation of the Information as doing so may compromise our independence.

It is not our responsibility to provide a conclusion on:

• the Entity’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 French duty of care law and 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. 225-1 et seq. of the French Commercial Code and with the professional guidance issued by the French Institute of Statutory Auditors (Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes) applicable to such engagement, in particular the professional guidance issued by the Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes, Intervention du commissaire aux comptes – Intervention de l’OTI – Déclaration de performance extra-financière, and acting as the verification programme and with the international standard ISAE 3000 (revised)⁽¹⁾.

Independence and quality control

Our independence is defined by Article L. 821-28 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 2023 and February 2024 over a total intervention period of around 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, representing in particular Corporate Social Responsibility, Legal Affairs, Ethics and Risk Management, Human Resources, Environment, Health and Safety, Research, Innovation and Technology, Environment and Purchasing departments.

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 obtained an understanding of all the consolidated entities’ activities and the description of the main risks associated;
• We assessed the suitability of the criteria of the Guidelines with respect to their relevance, completeness, reliability, neutrality and understandability, taking into account, where appropriate, best practices within the sector.
• We verified that the Statement includes each category of social and environmental information set out in section III of Article L. 225-102-1, as well as information regarding compliance with human rights and anticorruption and tax avoidance legislation, 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 provides the information required under Article R.225-105 II of the French Commercial Code where relevant with respect to the main risks.