The EDF group’s commitment to ethics and compliance

In order to protect its reputation, the EDF group promotes a culture of integrity and, as a matter of principle, promotes a zero tolerance towards fraud and corruption.  

An ethical conduct in accordance with the law must therefore be the absolute rule for all Group employees, worldwide, at all levels of the organisation, without exception.
 

The Group Ethics and Compliance Division (DECG) director reports to the General Secretary, who is a member of the Group Executive Committee.

The Group Ethics and Compliance Division (DECG) established in 2016 a network of approximately fifty Ethics and Compliance Officers (ECOs) across French entities and international operations. These ECOs report directly to the management of their respective entities and actively participate in Management Committee meetings dedicated to ethics and compliance matters, as well as in the follow-up of associated action plans. They are empowered with the necessary authority, resources, and tools to implement and ensure compliance with the Group’s ethics and compliance programme and related policies across all entities.

The Group Executive Committee, chaired by the EDF Chairman, is responsible for determining the orientations and priorities of the ethics and compliance programme, allocating the necessary resources and ensuring the monitoring and control of its implementation. The Group Ethics and Compliance Division speaks in the Group Executive Committee, in order to report on achievements via an annual business report and approve the action plan.

The Board of Directors of EDF, through its Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee, oversees the Company’s incorporation of ethical and compliance considerations into its works and management. An annual business report is also presented by the Group Ethics and Compliance Division (DECG).

EDF is a member of several anti-corruption initiatives and non-profit organisations committed to promoting transparency and integrity. Since 2016, the Group has been a member of Transparency International France and actively participates in the Forum of Engaged Companies ("Forum des Entreprises Engagées" or FEE), which brings together companies committed to the highest standards of transparency and integrity.
 

The DECG manages and coordinates, in liaison with the divisions concerned, the implementation of the Group’s ethics and compliance programme, signed by the Chairman and CEO of EDF, in France and abroad. This programme is created to meet the requirements of national and international regulatory authorities and local practices. The programme places all EDF executive directors and, more generally, all employees at the heart of the compliance system.

As part of this programme, the main missions DECG are to consolidate an analysis of the Group ethics and compliance risks, to manage the network of entity Ethics and Compliance Officers (ECOs), to support managers and ECOs in disseminating appropriate rules, to develop training and awareness among employees, to ensure that cases of identified non-compliance are dealt with and to prepare periodic reports for the Group's governance bodies.

In 2016, the Executive Committee adopted the Group Ethics & Compliance Policy (PECG), which comprises the Company’s compliance programmes as well as the main rules that executive directors must know, observe and enforce within their entities, which are strictly aligned with the risks of these entities. The PECG was first updated in January 2020, and subsequently revised again in June 2023, reflecting evolving regulatory requirements and the continuous strengthening of the Group’s ethics and compliance framework.

The current PECG includes thirteen compliance programmes:

• preventing the risk of corruption and influence peddling;
• preventing conflicts of interest;
• combating fraud;
• complying with international sanction programmes; 
•  preventing harassment and discrimination; 
• preventing market abuse; 
• preventing the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism;
• EMIR compliance;
• compliance with the REMIT regulation; 
• preventing breaches of competition law;
• personal data protection; 
• export control (dual-use goods); 
• the duty of vigilance (which covers the environment, human rights, and safety and health).