Regulations requiring French companies to disclose details of their
social and environmental performance have improved the overall quality
of their non-financial reports, according to a recent study.
Most of the 40 largest listed French companies by market capitalization
have now adopted a CSR approach in their reporting, although a number
are still dragging their feet, the research arm of Paris-based Groupe
Alpha consultancy concludes. The findings are a boost for supporters of
the regulatory approach, who argue that use of the stick rather than
the carrot is the best way to improve reporting practices.
Since 2002, companies listed in France have been obliged to publish in
the annual report details of ‘the manner in which they take account of
the social and environmental outcomes of their activities’. Breaching
the regulation, which affects 700 companies, carries no penalty.
Alpha Etudes’ study focused on the CAC 40 and found that eight
companies had improved their social reporting in the last year, 19 had
maintained its quality, and in a further eight the quality had dropped.
The remaining five were either based outside France or had produced no
current report. Studies in 2003 and 2004 found steady, if patchy,
improvements in disclosure.
Daniel Goudard, director of Alpha Etudes, said: ‘The regulations were
given a poor reception initially but companies are now falling in with
[them] and we are seeing far more interesting information, even among
the weaker performers.’ Several of the latter were financial
institutions, among them Axa, BNP Paribas and Cap Gemini.
