Doing Business 2018 France Economy Pro le of France Doing Business 2018 Indicators (in order of appearance in the document) Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company Dealing with construction Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and permits safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, the reliability of the electricity supply and the transparency of tariffs Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance Paying taxes Payments, time and total tax rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as post-filing processes Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for insolvency Labor market regulation Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. Page 2   for insolvency Doing Business Labor market 2018 regulation France Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. The ranking of 190 economies is determined by sorting the aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Ease of Doing Business in Region OECD high income DB 2018 Rank 190 1 France Income Category High income 31 Population 66,896,109 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 38,950 0 100 76.13 City Covered Paris DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 82.22: United Kingdom (Rank: 7) 79.00: Germany (Rank: 20) 77.46: Regional Average (OECD high income) 77.02: Spain (Rank: 28) 76.13: France (Rank: 31) Page 3   72.70: Italy (Rank: 46) aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More Doingabout 2018 (PDF, Doing Business Business 5MB) France Ease of Doing Business in Region OECD high income DB 2018 Rank 190 1 France Income Category High income 31 Population 66,896,109 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) GNI Per Capita (US$) 38,950 0 100 76.13 City Covered Paris DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 82.22: United Kingdom (Rank: 7) 79.00: Germany (Rank: 20) 77.46: Regional Average (OECD high income) 77.02: Spain (Rank: 28) 76.13: France (Rank: 31) 72.70: Italy (Rank: 46) Note: The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - France 1 1 15 18 25 26 28 28 33 54 55 82 90 Rank 100 109 136 163 190 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Distance to Frontier (DTF) on Doing Business topics - France 100.00 100 93.28 85.89 79.29 78.55 80 73.04 73.91 66.67 60.69 60 DTF 50.00 40 20 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:0.00 Change:-0.42 Change:0.00 Investors Change:+0.76 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-2.71 Change:+0.01 Permits Change:+1.67 Change:0.00 Change:+0.06 Starting a Business Page 4   This topic measures the paid-in minimum capital requirement, number of procedures, time and cost for a small- to medium-sized a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:0.00 Change:-0.42 Change:0.00 Investors Change:+0.76 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-2.71 Change:+0.01 Permits Change:+1.67 Change:0.00 Doing Business 2018 France Change:+0.06 Starting a Business This topic measures the paid-in minimum capital requirement, number of procedures, time and cost for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in economy’s largest business city. To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The distance to frontier score for each indicator is the average of the scores obtained for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and operate a To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions company (number) about the business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay Pre-registration (for example, name verification no bribes. or reservation, notarization) Registration in economy’s largest business city The business: - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than Post-registration (for example, social security one type of limited liability company in the economy, the most common registration, company seal) among domestic rms is chosen. Information on the most common form is Obtaining approval from spouse to start business obtained from incorporation lawyers or the statistical o ce. or leave home to register company - Operates in the economy’s largest business city and the entire o ce Obtaining any gender-specific permission that space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). For 11 can impact company registration, company economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. operations and process of getting national - Is 100% domestically owned and has ve owners, none of whom is a legal identity card entity; and has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a Time required to complete each procedure turnover of at least 100 times income per capita. (calendar days) - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does Does not include time spent gathering not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle products subject information to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It does not use Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 heavily polluting production processes. procedures cannot start on the same day) - Leases the commercial plant or o ces and is not a proprietor of real Procedures fully completed online are recorded estate and the amount of the annual lease for the o ce space is equivalent as ½ day to 1 times income per capita. Procedure is considered completed once final - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special bene ts. document is received - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. No prior contact with officials - Has a company deed 10 pages long. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of The owners: income per capita) - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, Official costs only, no bribes they are assumed to be 30 years old. No professional fees unless services required by - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. law or commonly used in practice - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) - Where the answer di ers according to the legal system applicable to the Funds deposited in a bank or with third party woman or man in question (as may be the case in economies where there before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Standardized Company Page 5   before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Doing Business 2018 France Standardized Company Legal form Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL) - Limited Liability Company Paid-in minimum capital requirement EUR 1 City Covered Paris OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Procedure – Men (number) 5 4.9 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 3.5 8.5 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 0.7 3.1 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Procedure – Women (number) 5 4.9 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 3.5 8.5 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 0.7 3.1 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 8.7 8.7 0.00 (113 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 94.58: United Kingdom (Rank: 14) 93.28: France (Rank: 25) 91.35: Regional Average (OECD high income) 89.42: Italy (Rank: 66) 86.65: Spain (Rank: 86) 83.46: Germany (Rank: 113) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Starting a Business in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 3.5 0.6 3 0.5 ost (% of income per capita) 2.5 0.4 Time (days) 2 0.3 1.5 0.2 1 Page 6   starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Starting a Business in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 3.5 0.6 3 0.5 Cost (% of income per capita) 2.5 0.4 Time (days) 2 0.3 1.5 0.2 1 0.1 0.5 0 0 1 2 *3 4 *5 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Details – Starting a Business in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Check name for uniqueness with the Institut National de la Propriété Less than one day no charge Industrielle (INPI) (online procedure) Agency : Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) Although it is not legally mandatory to check the proposed company name for uniqueness before registering a company, this procedure is included because legal consequences may follow if this step is omitted. The name can be checked online at http://www.boutique.inpi.fr/inpiboutic. A summary check is free of charge, but fees are charged for copies of trademark lings found. For an optional search of similar trademarks, fees are EUR 50 for three classes and EUR 500 for all classes. 2 Deposit the initial capital 1 day no charge Agency : Bank Within 8 days of the collection of all funds, the initial capital must be deposited with a notary public, the bank, or the Deposit and Consignment O ce (Caisse des Dépôt). The initial capital is blocked during the registration period and released upon presentation of a K-bis form. 3 Publish a notice of incorporation of the company Less than one day EUR 5.50 per line of Agency : Newspaper authorized to publish legal notices (online procedure, 40 characters simultaneous with (assuming 30 lines) This notice must provide the name of the company and its manager (gérant), previous share capital, the object of the company and registered o ce. The founder procedure) needs only a letter from the newspaper con rming the planned publication. The publication fee is EUR 5.50 (VAT excluded) per line of 40 characters. Page 7   (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Doing Business 2018 France Details – Starting a Business in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Check name for uniqueness with the Institut National de la Propriété Less than one day no charge Industrielle (INPI) (online procedure) Agency : Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) Although it is not legally mandatory to check the proposed company name for uniqueness before registering a company, this procedure is included because legal consequences may follow if this step is omitted. The name can be checked online at http://www.boutique.inpi.fr/inpiboutic. A summary check is free of charge, but fees are charged for copies of trademark lings found. For an optional search of similar trademarks, fees are EUR 50 for three classes and EUR 500 for all classes. 2 Deposit the initial capital 1 day no charge Agency : Bank Within 8 days of the collection of all funds, the initial capital must be deposited with a notary public, the bank, or the Deposit and Consignment O ce (Caisse des Dépôt). The initial capital is blocked during the registration period and released upon presentation of a K-bis form. 3 Publish a notice of incorporation of the company Less than one day EUR 5.50 per line of Agency : Newspaper authorized to publish legal notices (online procedure, 40 characters simultaneous with (assuming 30 lines) This notice must provide the name of the company and its manager (gérant), previous share capital, the object of the company and registered o ce. The founder procedure) needs only a letter from the newspaper con rming the planned publication. The publication fee is EUR 5.50 (VAT excluded) per line of 40 characters. For most newspapers, the publication of the notice can be ordered online. 4 File a request for a company’s registration with the Centre de Formalités Less than one day EUR 41.50 des Entreprises (CFE) (online procedure) Agency : Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) The Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) handles all formalities related to the trade register in the court (RCS, Tribunal de Commerce), statistics (INSEE), tax authorities (Centre des Impôts), social security (URSSAF), labor (Direction Departemental du Travail et de L’emploi), health insurance (Caisse regionale D’assurance Maladie), unemployment insurance, pension, Employment Pole (Pole Emploi), and similar bodies. The company's Articles of Association and bylaws, lease, attestation of receipt of funds, documents concerning the manager, ad hoc forms, evidence of publication, and so forth must be led in a single le. After receiving the request, the CFE must process the documents and transfer them to the respective o ces and authorities. If the request is incomplete, the CFE has 15 days to return the documents for completion. The CFE automatically enters the information in the Registre Nationale des Entreprise (Répertoire SIRENE) and obtains identi cation numbers from the RNE: SIRENE number (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des Entreprises), SIRET number (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des Etablissements), and NAF number (Nomenclature des Activitees Francaises). The SIRET is used, among other things, by the tax authorities. Page 8   Doing For most newspapers, Business the publication of the notice can be ordered online. 2018 France 4 File a request for a company’s registration with the Centre de Formalités Less than one day EUR 41.50 des Entreprises (CFE) (online procedure) Agency : Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) The Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) handles all formalities related to the trade register in the court (RCS, Tribunal de Commerce), statistics (INSEE), tax authorities (Centre des Impôts), social security (URSSAF), labor (Direction Departemental du Travail et de L’emploi), health insurance (Caisse regionale D’assurance Maladie), unemployment insurance, pension, Employment Pole (Pole Emploi), and similar bodies. The company's Articles of Association and bylaws, lease, attestation of receipt of funds, documents concerning the manager, ad hoc forms, evidence of publication, and so forth must be led in a single le. After receiving the request, the CFE must process the documents and transfer them to the respective o ces and authorities. If the request is incomplete, the CFE has 15 days to return the documents for completion. The CFE automatically enters the information in the Registre Nationale des Entreprise (Répertoire SIRENE) and obtains identi cation numbers from the RNE: SIRENE number (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des Entreprises), SIRET number (Systéme Informatique pour le Répertoire des Etablissements), and NAF number (Nomenclature des Activitees Francaises). The SIRET is used, among other things, by the tax authorities. Since the Dutreil Law, the CFE or the Commercial Registry can deliver a receipt for company creation (récepissé de creation d’entreprise) as soon as they have received the documents, so that the company can start operations without having to wait for its RCS number. The registration process can be done online via the Guichet Unique portal or Infogre e web portal after creating a personal account to connect, unless there is a regulated activity (for example, hairdresser, butcher, Realtor or lawyer) requiring prior authorization not yet possible on the website for all regulated professions. Though the CFE does not charge the entrepreneurs for this procedure, 41.50 euros must be paid at the CFE to register in the Commercial Court. 5 Buy company books and have them initialed by the clerk of the 1 day EUR 30 for two books Commercial Court (simultaneous with (EUR 15 per book) + Agency : Commercial Court previous EUR 3.12 stamping procedure) fee Special accounting company books must be bought from the court or specialized stores. Inventory books are no longer required, but the company must purchase the minutes of the records and the ledger and have these books initialed by the clerk of the Commercial Court. The books have numbered pages or numbered sheets, both of which must be certi ed by the Commercial Court. If a book with numbered pages is used, the certi cation is made only once (when the company is incorporated). If numbered sheets are used, the certi cation must be made for the minutes of shareholders’ meeting. If an accounting book is used, the certi cation must be made once each scal year. Therefore, for practical reasons books are often used. In theory, it is possible to have an electronic minute book provided that the procedure to draft the document is secured (to avoid document modi cation once it is drafted). Such a solution is rarely used because a Page 9   secured procedure has not been clearly de ned and the commercial court Though the CFE does not charge the entrepreneurs for this procedure, 41.50 Doing euros must be Business paid at 2018 the CFE to register in the Commercial Court. France 5 Buy company books and have them initialed by the clerk of the 1 day EUR 30 for two books Commercial Court (simultaneous with (EUR 15 per book) + Agency : Commercial Court previous EUR 3.12 stamping procedure) fee Special accounting company books must be bought from the court or specialized stores. Inventory books are no longer required, but the company must purchase the minutes of the records and the ledger and have these books initialed by the clerk of the Commercial Court. The books have numbered pages or numbered sheets, both of which must be certi ed by the Commercial Court. If a book with numbered pages is used, the certi cation is made only once (when the company is incorporated). If numbered sheets are used, the certi cation must be made for the minutes of shareholders’ meeting. If an accounting book is used, the certi cation must be made once each scal year. Therefore, for practical reasons books are often used. In theory, it is possible to have an electronic minute book provided that the procedure to draft the document is secured (to avoid document modi cation once it is drafted). Such a solution is rarely used because a secured procedure has not been clearly de ned and the commercial court certi cation is more complicated in that case. It is also possible for the company to acquire the book later, after it starts operation. Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required noti cations, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. Page 10   online are an exception to this rule Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 France Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required noti cations, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. online are an exception to this rule - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of Procedure is considered completed once final approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each oor will document is received be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of No prior contact with officials approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a warehouse value) licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as Official costs only, no bribes obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external Building quality control index (0-15) agencies, these are counted as procedures. - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative Sum of the scores of six component indices: and regulatory requirements). Quality of building regulations (0-2) The water and sewerage connections: Quality control before construction (0-1) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer Quality control during construction (0-3) tap. If there is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole Quality control after construction (0-3) will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built. Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an Professional certifications (0-4) average wastewater ow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater ow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day. - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater ow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Standardized Warehouse Page 11   and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Doing Business 2018 France Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse EUR 1,702,593.10 City Covered Paris OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 9 12.5 12.5 7.00 (Denmark) Time (days) 183 154.6 154.6 27.5 (Korea, Rep.) Cost (% of warehouse value) 3.0 1.6 1.6 0.10 (5 Economies) Building quality control index (0-15) 14.0 11.4 11.4 15.00 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 80.39: United Kingdom (Rank: 14) 79.29: France (Rank: 18) 78.16: Germany (Rank: 24) 75.14: Regional Average (OECD high income) 67.26: Italy (Rank: 96) 63.50: Spain (Rank: 123) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 180 3 160 2.5 Cost (% of warehouse value) 140 120 2 Time (days) 100 1.5 80 60 1 40 0.5 20 0 0 1 *2 3 *4 5 *6 7 *8 9 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 12   component indicators. Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 180 3 160 2.5 Cost (% of warehouse value) 140 120 2 Time (days) 100 1.5 80 60 1 40 0.5 20 0 0 1 *2 3 *4 5 *6 7 *8 9 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 16 14.0 14 12 11.0 11.0 11.4 9.5 Index score 10 9.0 8 6 4 2 0 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain an urbanism certi cate 60 days no charge Agency : City Hall (Mairie) There are two types of an urbanism certi cate: • Form A informative -- The informative form is a request to only establish the existing planning state of a building. • Form B operational -- The second is an operational planning certi cate. In addition to information provided by the informative planning certi cate, this certi cate indicates if the land can be used for a project and the existing or planned state of public utilities (channels and networks) to serve or serve this land. Page 13   A planning certi cate is valid for 18 months and can be renewed 2 months France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 France Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain an urbanism certi cate 60 days no charge Agency : City Hall (Mairie) There are two types of an urbanism certi cate: • Form A informative -- The informative form is a request to only establish the existing planning state of a building. • Form B operational -- The second is an operational planning certi cate. In addition to information provided by the informative planning certi cate, this certi cate indicates if the land can be used for a project and the existing or planned state of public utilities (channels and networks) to serve or serve this land. A planning certi cate is valid for 18 months and can be renewed 2 months prior to its expiration. The request for a planning certi cate must be submitted at the City Hall where the lot is located using a form Cerfa N° 13410*01. The average time to process the operational planning certi cate is 2 months. If no answer is given within these 2 months, the silent-is-consent rule applies. 2 Hire an external inspection company (Bureau de controle technique) 1 day EUR 4,256 Agency : Private Firm By law a bureau de controle (independent from the construction company) must conduct all technical inspections during construction. The Spinetta Act 78-12 of January 4, 1978 established and provided a legal framework for the Controle Technique in construction in France. 3 Obtain building permit 90 days EUR 42,855 Agency : City Hall (Mairie) To obtain a building permit, BuildCo must submit the following: • Location plan (orientation, access roads) and overall plan of the construction or renovation (dimensions, elevations, connections, access), drawn up on grounds of the Land Registry–based map, representing the plot • Front elevations • Views, cross sections, layout • Document with a detailed description of the project impact on the existing landscape to prove that it is environmentally friendly • Survey photographs (both near- and long-range), allowing for the easy identi cation of the site in relation to the surrounding areas To prepare this documentation, BuildCo must obtain the building permit forms from City Hall or on the Internet through the Booth for Forms (Guichet des formulaires) of the Equipment, Transport, and Housing Ministry (Ministère de l’ Equipment, des Transports et du Logement) (www.equipement.gouv.fr/). Four copies of the application are led at City Hall and a receipt is given in person or it may be sent by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. If one document is missing, claims must be made within 14 days after registration. Where the application is accompanied by all the required documents, the contractor will receive acknowledgment of receipt, indicating the date and registration number and the time needed for title investigation. The building permit will be issued within 3 months after registration of the Page 14   application (except where the plot is a classi ed site). The contractor shall 78-12 of January 4, 1978 established and provided a legal framework for the Doing Controle Business 2018 in Technique construction in France. France 3 Obtain building permit 90 days EUR 42,855 Agency : City Hall (Mairie) To obtain a building permit, BuildCo must submit the following: • Location plan (orientation, access roads) and overall plan of the construction or renovation (dimensions, elevations, connections, access), drawn up on grounds of the Land Registry–based map, representing the plot • Front elevations • Views, cross sections, layout • Document with a detailed description of the project impact on the existing landscape to prove that it is environmentally friendly • Survey photographs (both near- and long-range), allowing for the easy identi cation of the site in relation to the surrounding areas To prepare this documentation, BuildCo must obtain the building permit forms from City Hall or on the Internet through the Booth for Forms (Guichet des formulaires) of the Equipment, Transport, and Housing Ministry (Ministère de l’ Equipment, des Transports et du Logement) (www.equipement.gouv.fr/). Four copies of the application are led at City Hall and a receipt is given in person or it may be sent by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. If one document is missing, claims must be made within 14 days after registration. Where the application is accompanied by all the required documents, the contractor will receive acknowledgment of receipt, indicating the date and registration number and the time needed for title investigation. The building permit will be issued within 3 months after registration of the application (except where the plot is a classi ed site). The contractor shall deem the permit tacitly granted if no reply is received within the 3 month period. The building permit is valid for 2 years. The contractor must begin work (or apply for an extension) within that time; otherwise, the permit expires. Moreover, if the contractor halts work for over a year, the validity of the permit expires, even if the 2-year statutory period has not yet elapsed. The permit must be displayed at the construction site and must include all the requisite information: mandatory dimensions, building permit number and date of issue, name of permit holder, nature of the work, and the address of City Hall where construction documents are open to public scrutiny. A copy of the building permit must be available in City Hall for 2 months to enable any aggrieved third parties (i.e., adjacent property owners) to challenge it. The application form to connect to sewage is also included when requesting a building permit. The application is to the addressed to the Sanitation department of Ville de Paris. 4 Apply for water connection 0.5 days no charge Agency : Eaux de Paris The water utility connection is typically a lengthy process. Thus, it is advisable to request it prior to beginning construction work. 5 Receive site visit by Eaux de Paris to prepare a cost estimate (devis) for 1 day no charge water connection Agency : Eaux de Paris 6 File a declaration of the worksite opening 1 day no charge Page 15   water connection Agency : Eaux de Paris Doing Business 2018 France 6 File a declaration of the worksite opening 1 day no charge Agency : City Hall (Mairie) The declaration of the opening of construction site is a key step. This declaration can be done either by completing a form (Cerfa 46.0394) obtainable either at City Hall or on the Internet through the (Guichet des formulaires), located at the Equipment, Transport and Housing Ministry (Ministère de l’ Equipment, des Transports et du Logement) Web site (www.equipement.gouv.fr/) or online. If the applicant chooses to mail the form, then the completed forms must be sent to City Hall by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. 7 Obtain water connection 30 days EUR 3,670 Agency : Eaux de Paris 8 Declare completion of construction 1 day no charge Agency : City Hall (Mairie) Within 30 days of work completion, the contractor must send City Hall a notice -- by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt, through a letter signed by the contractor’s company, or by the rms that worked on the project -- in which the architect declares the completion of the construction. That document must be included in the building permit application le. Three copies of the forms must be completed. 9 Receive visit by building inspectors and obtain compliance certi cate 1 day no charge Agency : City Hall or Equipement Departmental Directorate The compliance certi cate attests that the completed project meets the building permit speci cations. Once the declaration of completion is led, an o cial from City Hall or the Equipment Departmental Directorate (Direction Départementale de l’Équipement, DDE) then visits the site to verify whether the structure conforms to building permit speci cations. The compliance certi cate is issued within 3 months of the application if the speci cations are met. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 14.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Page 16   Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 France Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 14.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 1.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) architect. Quality control during construction index (0-3) 3.0 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during Inspections by 2.0 construction? (0-2) external engineer or rm; Risk-based inspections. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 1.0 inspections are always done in practice. Quality control after construction index (0-3) 3.0 Is there a nal inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in Yes, nal 2.0 accordance with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) inspection is done by government agency; Yes, external engineer submits report for nal inspection. Do legally mandated nal inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 1.0 always occurs in practice. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 2.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Page 17   Construction Liability Doing 2018 regimes and insurance Business index (0-2) France 2.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company; Owner or investor. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover Architect or 1.0 possible structural aws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect engineer; Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company; Insurance is commonly taken in practice. Professional certi cations index (0-4) 3.0 What are the quali cation requirements for the professional responsible for verifying Minimum 2.0 that the architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building number of years regulations? (0-2) of experience; University degree in architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer. What are the quali cation requirements for the professional who supervises the University 1.0 construction on the ground? (0-2) degree in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer. Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Page 18   architect or engineer. Doing Business 2018 France Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the receiving all necessary inspections data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is purchasing material for these works in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not Concluding any necessary supply contract and near a railway. obtaining final supply - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the rst time. Time required to complete each procedure - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square (calendar days) meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 Is at least 1 calendar day square meters (10,000 square feet). Each procedure starts on a separate day Does not include time spent gathering The electricity connection: information - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, Reflects the time spent in practice, with little when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). follow-up and no prior contact with officials - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or Cost required to complete each procedure (% of medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or income per capita) underground, whichever is more common in the area where the Official costs only, no bribes warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10- meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out Value added tax excluded on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property The reliability of supply and transparency of because the warehouse has access to a road. tari s index (0-8) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been completed up to and including the customer’s service Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) panel or switchboard and the meter base. Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) Tools to restore power supply (0–1) The monthly consumption: Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 (0–1) a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the Price based on monthly bill for commercial cheapest supplier. warehouse in case study - Tari s e ective in March of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although March has 31 days, for * N o t e : Doing Business m e a s u r e s t h e p r i c e o f calculation purposes only 30 days are used. electricity, but it is not included in the distance to frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 19   Standardized Connection frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Doing Business 2018 France Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 13.6 Name of utility ENEDIS City Covered Paris OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 5 4.7 4.7 2 (United Arab Emirates) Time (days) 71 79.1 79.1 10 (United Arab Emirates) Cost (% of income per capita) 6 63.0 63.0 0.00 (Japan) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff 8 7.4 7.4 8.00 (28 Economies) index (0-8) Figure – Getting Electricity in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 98.79: Germany (Rank: 5) 93.29: United Kingdom (Rank: 9) 85.89: France (Rank: 26) 85.27: Italy (Rank: 28) 84.44: Regional Average (OECD high income) 82.99: Spain (Rank: 42) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Getting Electricity in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 70 6 60 5 Cost (% of income per capita) 50 4 Time (days) 40 3 30 2 20 1 10 Page 20   getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Getting Electricity in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 70 6 60 5 Cost (% of income per capita) 50 4 Time (days) 40 3 30 2 20 1 10 0 0 1 *2 3 *4 5 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 8.2 8 8 8 8 8 7.8 7.6 Index score 7.4 7.4 7.2 7 7 6.8 6.6 6.4 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Getting Electricity in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to ENEDIS and await estimate 20 calendar days EUR 0 Agency : ENEDIS The connection application form and the list of documents required for this application are available on the website of ENEDIS. The application (and supporting documents) can also be submitted directly online since the end of 2016. Along with the application, the client needs to submit the following documents: • Information about the company, the site, and the project contact people • The client’s needed capacity; capacities have to be provided in kVA for Low- Page 21   Voltage (LV) connections and in kW for Medium-Voltage (MV) connections. France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 France Details – Getting Electricity in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to ENEDIS and await estimate 20 calendar days EUR 0 Agency : ENEDIS The connection application form and the list of documents required for this application are available on the website of ENEDIS. The application (and supporting documents) can also be submitted directly online since the end of 2016. Along with the application, the client needs to submit the following documents: • Information about the company, the site, and the project contact people • The client’s needed capacity; capacities have to be provided in kVA for Low- Voltage (LV) connections and in kW for Medium-Voltage (MV) connections. • A list of the client’s electrical equipment so ENEDIS can determine the potential disruptions on their network. • The site plan of the land from the municipality (plan de situation du terrain), specifying the boundaries of the property, • Copy of the planning permission ("autorisation d’urbanisme du projet") • The "plan de masse", which presents the proposed development of the site in terms of access to public roads and connections to networks and speci es the location of the individual circuit box and, if applicable, the monitored power cabinet • The client’s date of nal connection (energization) Upon receipt of the complete le, ENEDIS then carries out a technical study and sends the customer a connection proposal. This document contains: - A description of the technical solution selected, detailing the work that the applicant must carry out before the intervention of ENEDIS - A provisional timetable for the execution of the works, - The contacts of an ENEDIS adviser, which will handle the case - The connection agreement, which details the technical, legal and nancial elements for the connection of the electrical installation and the operating rules of this facility. - The period of validity of the proposal is 3 months. 2 Receive external inspection by ENEDIS 1 calendar day EUR 0 Agency : ENEDIS After receiving the application, ENEDIS inspects the site to determine the material needed for the external works and nal connection. It then sends the client either an estimate of the connection fees or the requirements for the connection (both technical and nancial). 3 Receive external works from ENEDIS 47 calendar days EUR 1,840.44 Agency : ENEDIS For the works to start, the client needs to pay at least 50% of the estimate of fees. ENEDIS then generates an identi cation number that will be used in all its future communications with the client, and especially when the client will request the nal connection (energization) from their electricity supplier. ENEDIS will also indicate an expected date for the end of the external works and a date after which the service can be energized. As soon as clients receives this information, they can contact their electricity Page 22   supplier to prepare the supply contract required for the nal connection. the client either an estimate of the connection fees or the requirements for Doing the connection Business technical and nancial). (both France 2018 3 Receive external works from ENEDIS 47 calendar days EUR 1,840.44 Agency : ENEDIS For the works to start, the client needs to pay at least 50% of the estimate of fees. ENEDIS then generates an identi cation number that will be used in all its future communications with the client, and especially when the client will request the nal connection (energization) from their electricity supplier. ENEDIS will also indicate an expected date for the end of the external works and a date after which the service can be energized. As soon as clients receives this information, they can contact their electricity supplier to prepare the supply contract required for the nal connection. The connection process might also require works to be done in the public or private domain. In this case ENEDIS will obtain all necessary administrative permits. Once the works are completed, the client’s private electrical installation is connected to the public distribution network. The client should not wait for the external works to end in order to obtain a conformity certi cate of internal installation. 4 Obtain compliance certi cate for internal wiring 20 calendar days EUR 43.59 Agency : CONSUEL The customer can choose any private electrician for the internal wiring. At the end of the works, they will need to request a conformity certi cate from a control body, such as CONSUEL, that may check the entire internal installation to make sure it is conforming to the regulation NF C 15-100. The type of Consuel certi cate needed in this case is an "Attestation de conformité "VERTE" ("Locaux à réglementations particulières"). In order to obtain a copy of the form to ll out, the client will need to write to CONSUEL (http://www.consuel.com/visa.htm#1). The client will need to attach the establishing shot (« plan de situation ») to the application. CONSUEL may conduct an inspection based on a risk-assessment system. In any case, a certi cate will be issued which Electricité Réseau Distribution France will check when carrying out the nal connection. 5 Sign supply contract and obtain meter installation and nal connection 4 calendar days EUR 155.3 Agency : ENEDIS The energy supplier will propose a supply contract to the client. Once the customer has signed the contract, the supplier will request the nal connection from ENEDIS on the client’s behalf, which is done if all payments of connection costs are made to ENEDIS and if the certi cate from CONSUEL is presented. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Getting Electricity in France – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 8 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 3 Page 23   System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.2 Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 France Details – Getting Electricity in France – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 8 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 3 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.2 System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 0.2 What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 3.0 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on Yes reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 1 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages Yes exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 1 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online http://entreprises.ed f.com/outil-de- simulation/etape-3- 59065.html Are customers noti ed of a change in tari ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Page 24   If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Doing Business 2018 France Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions property (number) about the parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, The parties (buyer and seller): paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). Registration procedures in the economy's largest - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. business citya. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest Postregistration procedures (for example, filling business city. title with municipality) - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. Time required to complete each procedure - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. (calendar days) - Perform general commercial activities. Does not include time spent gathering information The property (fully owned by the seller): - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. Each procedure starts on a separate day - though - Is fully owned by the seller. procedures that can be fully completed online - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for are an exception to this rule the past 10 years. Procedure is considered completed once final - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title document is received disputes. No prior contact with officials - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters property value) (6,000 square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in Official costs only (such as administrative fees, good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety duties and taxes). standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its entirety. payments are excluded - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the Quality of land administration index (0-30) purchase. - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) monuments of any kind. Transparency of information index (0–6) - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for Geographic coverage index (0–8) residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required. Land dispute resolution index (0–8) - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Standard Property Transfer Property value EUR 1,702,593.10 City Covered Paris Page 25   OECD high OECD high Doing Business 2018 France Standard Property Transfer Property value EUR 1,702,593.10 City Covered Paris OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 8 4.6 4.6 1.00 (4 Economies) Time (days) 64 22.3 22.3 1.00 (3 Economies) Cost (% of property value) 7.3 4.2 4.2 0.00 (5 Economies) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 24.0 22.7 22.7 29.00 (Singapore) Figure – Registering Property in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 81.70: Italy (Rank: 23) 76.81: Regional Average (OECD high income) 74.51: United Kingdom (Rank: 47) 73.88: Spain (Rank: 53) 65.71: Germany (Rank: 77) 60.69: France (Rank: 100) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 8 60 7 50 Cost (% of property value) 6 40 5 Time (days) 4 30 3 20 2 10 1 0 0 1 *2 *3 *4 *5 *6 7 8 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 26   Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Registering Property in France – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 8 60 7 50 Cost (% of property value) 6 40 5 Time (days) 4 30 3 20 2 10 1 0 0 1 *2 *3 *4 *5 *6 7 8 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Registering Property in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 27 26.5 26 25 24.5 24.0 Index score 24 23 22.5 22.7 22.0 22 21 20 19 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Registering Property in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain mandatory environmental reports 15 - 30 days About EUR 800 Agency : Certi ed assessors (simultaneous with Procedures 2, 3, 4, The seller obtains mandatory environmental reports (3 in total) mentioning 5 and 6) the presence or absence of termites and asbestos. Without these reports the seller would remain liable towards the purchaser if termites or asbestos were found in the future. Termites Certi cate was made mandatory by the Law 99-471 du 8 juin 1999, decrét 2000-613 du 3 juillet 2000, arreté du 10 aout 2000). Asbestos certi cate is mandatory by décret 96-97 du 7 février 1996 modi é et appliqueé depuis le 1er janvier 2002) and the certi cate for natural disaster and technological risks. The obligation to submit the "Etat des risques naturels et technologiques" (ERNT) is stated in article R. 125-26 Page 27   of the "Code de l'environnement". It has to be presented on Cerfa and France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 France Details – Registering Property in France – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain mandatory environmental reports 15 - 30 days About EUR 800 Agency : Certi ed assessors (simultaneous with Procedures 2, 3, 4, The seller obtains mandatory environmental reports (3 in total) mentioning 5 and 6) the presence or absence of termites and asbestos. Without these reports the seller would remain liable towards the purchaser if termites or asbestos were found in the future. Termites Certi cate was made mandatory by the Law 99-471 du 8 juin 1999, decrét 2000-613 du 3 juillet 2000, arreté du 10 aout 2000). Asbestos certi cate is mandatory by décret 96-97 du 7 février 1996 modi é et appliqueé depuis le 1er janvier 2002) and the certi cate for natural disaster and technological risks. The obligation to submit the "Etat des risques naturels et technologiques" (ERNT) is stated in article R. 125-26 of the "Code de l'environnement". It has to be presented on Cerfa and completed by the seller. In Paris it is obtained online by the seller's notary. As a result of the implementation of the Power Performance Diagnostic (“Diagnostic de performance énergétique”, loi du 12 juillet 2010), it is only for information, and can be obtained online in Paris. According to the “Loi Grenelle”, passed on July 12, 2010, under article 1 which modi es the code de la construction et de l'habitation, the DPE becomes mandatory for any property sold after January 1st, 2011. The seller can be held liable later if he does not submit these diagnostics. 2 Obtain the waiver of preemption rights from the Municipality 20 days no cost Agency : Municipality (Mairie de Paris) (simultaneous with Procedures 1, 3, 4, The notary writes to the city mayor to obtain the waiver of the city’s 5 and 6) preemption rights on the property. The notary informs about the transaction and the conditions agreed among the parties. It is common that many properties are subject to these requirements, since the Municipality may have the right to buy the property at the same price that it was agreed on the sale agreement. If the city does not answer in 2 months, then the preemption rights have been waived. It may be the case that the city informs the notary before the 2 months. There are some exemptions: if the building has been completed in the last 10 years or if the lot sold (used for residential purpose) is in a building where the co-ownership rules have been published at the land registry more than 10 years ago. Properties when the whole lot and building are sold will need the waiver for preemption rights. In practice it takes around 3 weeks on average to obtain this waiver. 3 Obtain from the relevant Land Registry a non-encumbrance certi cate 3-4 days EUR 12 per demand ("Demande hors Formalité") and a 30-year search on the property (simultaneous with for up to 5 plots of Agency : Land Registry (Service de Publicite Fonciere) Procedures 1, 2, 4, land + EUR 2 for each 5 and 6) supplementary plot The notary obtains from the relevant Land Registry a non-encumbrance of land (hors certi cate and a 30-year search on the property at the Real Estate O ce (one formalite) after the document) (hereafter the “Land Registry Search”) using the Tele@ctes 5th plot + EUR 2 for system. In 2009, notaries make the request electronically for around 80% of transactions. The payment is made on-line through the notary’s bank postage account “Caisse des depots” at the Banque de France. The Land Registry Search must be obtained before completion of the transaction. It is valid only for a set period and then it has to be updated. The Land Registry Search contains the following information: all transfers of ownership, mortgages, charges, and easements, on the property registered since 1956. The Land registry delivers 50 years of information, but only 30 are used by notaries. Page 28   and building are sold will need the waiver for preemption rights. In practice it Doing takes around Business 3 weeks 2018 on average to obtain this waiver. France 3 Obtain from the relevant Land Registry a non-encumbrance certi cate 3-4 days EUR 12 per demand ("Demande hors Formalité") and a 30-year search on the property (simultaneous with for up to 5 plots of Agency : Land Registry (Service de Publicite Fonciere) Procedures 1, 2, 4, land + EUR 2 for each 5 and 6) supplementary plot The notary obtains from the relevant Land Registry a non-encumbrance of land (hors certi cate and a 30-year search on the property at the Real Estate O ce (one formalite) after the document) (hereafter the “Land Registry Search”) using the Tele@ctes 5th plot + EUR 2 for system. In 2009, notaries make the request electronically for around 80% of transactions. The payment is made on-line through the notary’s bank postage account “Caisse des depots” at the Banque de France. The Land Registry Search must be obtained before completion of the transaction. It is valid only for a set period and then it has to be updated. The Land Registry Search contains the following information: all transfers of ownership, mortgages, charges, and easements, on the property registered since 1956. The Land registry delivers 50 years of information, but only 30 are used by notaries. 4 Obtain planning certi cates ("document d'urbanisme") Less than a day no cost (internet) [or Agency : Municipality (Mairie de Paris, www.paris.fr) (online procedure), EUR 120 when the (simultaneous with demand is made by a The notary obtains planning certi cate from the Municipality. The request procedures 1, 2, 3, surveyor] can be ful lled on the Internet in some cities like Paris in the website: 5 and 6) https://teleservices.paris.fr/ru/jsp/site/RunStandaloneApp.jsp? page=ru&action=accueil 5 Obtain a cadastral certi cate ("plan catastral - Modèle 1") Less than a day no cost Agency : Cadastral Registry (www.cadastre.gouv.fr; Ministère du Budget – (online procedure), Direction Générale des Finances Publiques) (simultaneous with Procedures 1, 2, 3, The notary obtains a cadastral certi cate showing the reference of the 4 and 6) property at the Cadastral Registry. This certi cate is obtained by the notary immediately on the internet for all of France since January 2008 in the website www.cadastre.gouv.fr. The document called "Modèle 1" is accessible on the internet but only for the Notaries; only this document is mandatory and is obtained immediately. 6 Obtain Kbis Extract from Infogre e Less than a day EUR 2.96 for the Agency : Infogre e (online procedure), simple extract, EUR (simultaneous with 65 for the complete For companies, notaries will request the Extrait RCS (Kbis) online in Paris at procedures 1, 2, 3 file www.Infogre e.fr. The Kbis will include the articles of association and and 5) accounts of the company. The complete le can also be requested including the following elements: Extrait RCS (Kbis), état d'endettement (privilèges et nantissements), historique des modi cations au RCS, derniers statuts à jour, résultat de recherche en matière de procédure de sauvegarde, redressement ou liquidation judiciaire. 7 The deed of sale is prepared and signed by the parties at the notary's 2 days Notary fees ( Arrêté o ce du 26 février 2016 Agency : Notary fixant les tarifs réglementés des Once the notary has completed the necessary searches and inspections, notaires): acquired the necessary information from the local authorities and the bank - 3.945% (VAT (if there's to be a mortgage), and prepares the nal deed of sale, the parties excluded) for a meet once again with him for the execution of the deed of sale. property value The deed of sale must be executed before a notary. If not the property between EUR 0 and transfer cannot be registered at the relevant Land Registry. The notary is EUR 6.500 required to completely read aloud the deed of sale to both the seller and - 1.627% (VAT buyer. At this moment, the notary might still amend some clause if excluded) for a necessary. The notary needs to make sure that both parties understand the property value Page 29   terms of the deed. Registration fees and notaries’ fees are payable up-front. between EUR 6.501 résultat de recherche en matière de procédure de sauvegarde, Doing redressement Business 2018 Francejudiciaire. ou liquidation 7 The deed of sale is prepared and signed by the parties at the notary's 2 days Notary fees ( Arrêté o ce du 26 février 2016 Agency : Notary fixant les tarifs réglementés des Once the notary has completed the necessary searches and inspections, notaires): acquired the necessary information from the local authorities and the bank - 3.945% (VAT (if there's to be a mortgage), and prepares the nal deed of sale, the parties excluded) for a meet once again with him for the execution of the deed of sale. property value The deed of sale must be executed before a notary. If not the property between EUR 0 and transfer cannot be registered at the relevant Land Registry. The notary is EUR 6.500 required to completely read aloud the deed of sale to both the seller and - 1.627% (VAT buyer. At this moment, the notary might still amend some clause if excluded) for a necessary. The notary needs to make sure that both parties understand the property value terms of the deed. Registration fees and notaries’ fees are payable up-front. between EUR 6.501 and EUR 17.000 The buyer acquires full ownership of the property immediately after the - 1.085% (VAT deed of sale has been signed before the notary. He can dispose of the excluded) for a property as he wishes by selling, leasing, mortgaging it, etc. However, only property value after publication at the Land registry the sale is opposable to third parties. In between EUR 17.001 practice a third party will only be willing to buy a property or a bank grant a and EUR 60.000 loan on it if the property has been registered. - 0.814% (VAT excluded) for a According to law no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011, art. 1er (V), the notary property value must apply for registration of the deed of sale at the relevant Land Registry higher than EUR within 1 month of the date of execution of the deed of sale. 60.000. As of 2016, notary are able to give a discount up to 10% for the fees charged for values about EUR 150,000. Registration fee (Paris) : 5.8% of property value Additional tax for commercial buildings (Paris): 0.6% of property value 8 Apply for publication of the deed of sale and obtain the stamped 41 days 0.1% of purchase documents price Agency : Land Registry (Service de Publicite Fonciere) The notary can send the documents to the Land Registry immediately after the signature of the deed, personally or electronically through Teleactes. Simultaneously, the notary pays to the Land Registry the publicity tax and the salary of the registrar on behalf of the purchaser (the value added tax is paid by the company directly). The original deed of sale (called the “minutes”) remains with the notary for 75 years. The Land Registry will verify the transaction (name and date of birth of person should coincide with the Property Registries’ records; the number of the parcel & cadastral section). The transfer of property is opposable to Page 30   third parties after publication of the deed by the land registry o ce. 0.6% of property Doing Business 2018 France value 8 Apply for publication of the deed of sale and obtain the stamped 41 days 0.1% of purchase documents price Agency : Land Registry (Service de Publicite Fonciere) The notary can send the documents to the Land Registry immediately after the signature of the deed, personally or electronically through Teleactes. Simultaneously, the notary pays to the Land Registry the publicity tax and the salary of the registrar on behalf of the purchaser (the value added tax is paid by the company directly). The original deed of sale (called the “minutes”) remains with the notary for 75 years. The Land Registry will verify the transaction (name and date of birth of person should coincide with the Property Registries’ records; the number of the parcel & cadastral section). The transfer of property is opposable to third parties after publication of the deed by the land registry o ce. On completion, the vendor’s creditors if any, must execute a deed of discharge or release of the existing mortgages bene ting to them. It is possible to make all transfer publication requests in France electronically (publication of the "acte authetique de vente" in order to make it opposable to third parties). The usage rate of the electronic system has been increasing consistently since 2009. The electronic system is faster and reduces the chances for errors, because the Property Registry employees do not have to input information manually into the system. Data is inserted electronically into the Fiji system automatically from Teleactes. Land registries are proactively inviting notaries to participate in the electronic system, with a positive response from notaries. At this point, rst the notary prepares the deed of sale with his own software, prints and has it signed by the parties. Then he inputs the information again in a separate screen of Teleactes to submit it to the Service de Publicite Fonciere for publication. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Registering Property in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 24.0 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 7.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Service de la Publicité Foncière In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Computer/Scann 1.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, Yes 1.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Service du Cadastre Page 31   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 France Details – Registering Property in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 24.0 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 7.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? Service de la Publicité Foncière In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Computer/Scann 1.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, Yes 1.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Service du Cadastre In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Computer/Fully 2.0 in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? digital Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing Yes 1.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the Di erent 1.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases but or in separate databases? linked Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use Yes 1.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 3.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Anyone who 1.0 immovable property registration in the largest business city? pays the o cial fee Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction Yes, online 0.5 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: http://vosdroits.s ervice- public.fr/particuli ers/F2962.xhtml Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, online 0.5 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– and if so, how? Link for online access: https://www.serv ice- public.fr/particuli ers/vosdroits/R1 7286 http://www.impo ts.gouv.fr/portal/ Page 32   deploiement/p1/ immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– and if Doing so, how? 2018 Business France Link for online access: https://www.serv ice- public.fr/particuli ers/vosdroits/R1 7286 http://www.impo ts.gouv.fr/portal/ deploiement/p1/ chedescriptivef ormulaire_8938/f ichedescriptivefo rmulaire_8938.p df Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a No 0.0 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a speci c time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: Are there publicly available o cial statistics tracking the number of transactions at the No 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2015: Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Freely accessible 0.5 by anyone Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available Yes, online 0.5 —and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.legifr ance.gouv.fr/a c hTexte.do? cidTexte=JORFTE XT000024095701 Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a No 0.0 speci c time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? Contact information: Geographic coverage index (0–8) 8.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable Yes 2.0 property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the Yes 2.0 immovable property registry? Page 33   Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable Yes 2.0 property Doing registry? Business 2018 France Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the Yes 2.0 immovable property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? Yes 2.0 Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? Yes 2.0 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 6.0 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private Yes 0.5 guarantee? Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a Yes 0.5 property transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Notary. Does the legal system require veri cation of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 transaction? If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Notary. Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? Yes 1.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a Tribunal de property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the Grande Instance largest business city, what court would be in charge of the case in the rst instance? (TGI) de Paris How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the rst-instance court for Between 1 and 2 2.0 such a case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the rst instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2015: Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal Page 34   rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Doing Business 2018 France Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Number of individuals and firms listed in credit only case A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set registry as a percentage of adult population of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned. The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests). In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 6.0 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 6 6.6 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Page 35   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 47.2 18.3 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Doing Business 2018 France OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 6.0 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 6 6.6 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 47.2 18.3 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 0.0 63.7 63.7 100.00 (23 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 75.00: United Kingdom (Rank: 29) 70.00: Germany (Rank: 42) 63.03: Regional Average (OECD high income) 60.00: Spain (Rank: 68) 50.00: France (Rank: 90) 45.00: Italy (Rank: 105) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting credit. These scores are the distance to frontier score for the sum of the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in France and comparator economies 8 7 7 6 6.0 6 5 Index score 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 0 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Legal Rights in France Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Page 36   France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 France Details – Legal Rights in France Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring Yes a speci c description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds No or replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and Yes obligations be secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is uni ed geographically Yes and by asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor's name? Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be No performed online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency No procedure? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? No Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised No reorganization procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and/or sets a time limit for it? Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law Yes allow the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt? Figure – Credit Information in France and comparator economies 10 8 8 8 7 7 6.6 Index score 6 6 4 2 0 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Credit Information in France Page 37   0 France Doing Business 2018 FranceGermany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Credit Information in France Credit Credit Depth of credit information index (0-8) bureau registry Score Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? No Yes 1 Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? No No 0 Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and financial institutions - No No 0 distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries that distribute more No Yes 1 than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.) Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? No Yes 1 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or credit registry? No Yes 1 Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online (for example, No Yes 1 through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)? Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help banks and financial No Yes 1 institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 6 Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0. Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry Number of individuals 0 10,413,080 Number of firms 0 9,174,620 Total 0 19,587,700 Percentage of adult population 0.0 47.2 Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple Page 38   transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, Percentage of adult population 0.0 47.2 Doing Business 2018 France Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple disgorgement of profits, fines, imprisonment, shareholders. rescission of the transaction) - Has a board of directors and a chief executive o cer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not speci cally Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to required by law. internal corporate documents; Evidence - Has a supervisory board (applicable to economies with a two-tier board obtainable during trial and allocation of legal system) on which 60% of the shareholder-elected members have been expenses appointed by Mr. James, who is Buyer’s controlling shareholder and a Extent of conflict of interest regulation index member of Buyer’s board of directors. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, - Has not adopted any bylaws or articles of association that di er from extent of director liability and ease of default minimum standards and does not follow any nonmandatory codes, shareholder indices principles, recommendations or guidelines relating to corporate Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): governance. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. decisions Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): The transaction involves the following details: Governance safeguards protecting shareholders - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer and elected two directors to Buyer’s ve- from undue board control and entrenchment member board. Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, retail hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. compensation, audits and financial prospects - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused eet of trucks to expand Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer Extent of shareholder governance index (0–10): agrees. The price is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the Simple average of the extent of shareholders market value. rights, extent of ownership and control and - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s ordinary course of extent of corporate transparency indices business and is not outside the authority of the company. Strength of minority investor protection index - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of and all required disclosures made (that is, the transaction is not interest regulation and extent of shareholder fraudulent). governance indices - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the other parties that approved the transaction. OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 5.7 6.4 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 7.7 6.4 6.4 Page 39   9.00 (Kazakhstan) and the other parties that approved the transaction. Doing Business 2018 France OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 5.7 6.4 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 7.7 6.4 6.4 9.00 (Kazakhstan) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 75.00: United Kingdom (Rank: 10) 70.00: Spain (Rank: 24) 66.67: France (Rank: 33) 63.93: Regional Average (OECD high income) 58.33: Germany (Rank: 62) 58.33: Italy (Rank: 62) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the extent of con ict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality France 10 3 8 8 5 6 Germany 7 5 5 6 7 5 Italy 8 4 7 4 6 6 Spain 9 6 7 5 9 6 United Kingdom 8 7 10 5 7 8 OECD high income 7.3 5.6 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0­10) Extent of director liability index (0­10) Extent of disclosure index (0­10) Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Details – Protecting Minority Investors in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Page 40   Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Doing Business 2018 France Details – Protecting Minority Investors in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of con ict of interest regulation index (0-10) 5.7 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 8 Which corporate body is legally su cient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Shareholders 3.0 excluding interested parties Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) No 0.0 Must Mr. James disclose his con ict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Existence of a 1.0 con ict without any speci cs Must Buyer disclose the transaction in published periodic lings (annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on 2.0 the transaction and on the con ict of interest Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public and/or shareholders? (0- Disclosure on 2.0 2) the transaction and on the con ict of interest Extent of director liability index (0-10) 3 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue directly or derivatively Yes 1.0 for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold the interested director liable for the damage the transaction Liable if negligent 1.0 caused to Buyer? (0-2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused Not liable 0.0 to Buyer (0-2) Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Must Mr. James repay pro ts made from the transaction upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disquali ed or ned and imprisoned upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Only in case of 0.0 fraud or bad faith Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 6 Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Page 41   shareholder Ease ofBusiness Doing suits index 2018 (0-10) France 6 Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plainti request categories of documents from the defendant without No 0.0 identifying speci c ones? (0-1) Can the plainti directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) No 0.0 Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) Yes 1.0 Can shareholder plainti s recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0 Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 7.7 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 5 Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of No 0.0 shareholders? Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? Yes 1.0 Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new Yes 1.0 shares? Must shareholders approve the election and dismissal of the external auditor? Yes 1.0 Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the a ected Yes 1.0 shares approve? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, does the sale of 51% of its assets require No 0.0 member approval? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 10% call for a Yes 1.0 meeting of members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must all members consent to add a new No 0.0 member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member rst o er to sell their No 0.0 interest to the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 8 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chair of the board of No 0.0 directors? Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? Yes 1.0 Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the Yes 1.0 end of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising Yes 1.0 board members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% Yes 1.0 Page 42   of Buyer? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising Yes 1.0 board Doing members? Business 2018 France Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% Yes 1.0 of Buyer? Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? Yes 1.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve Yes 1.0 disagreements among members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a potential acquirer make a tender No 0.0 o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute pro ts within a Yes 1.0 maximum period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 10 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect bene cial ownership stakes representing 5%? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and Yes 1.0 directorships in other companies? Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? Yes 1.0 Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? Yes 1.0 Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general Yes 1.0 meeting agenda? Must Buyer's annual nancial statements be audited by an external auditor? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must members meet at least once a year? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 5% put items on Yes 1.0 the meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Page 43   Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Doing Business 2018 France Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Total number of taxes and contributions paid, and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply including consumption taxes (value added tax, with the requirements of post ling processes and time waiting. sales tax or goods and service tax) Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: Time required to comply with 3 major taxes - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January (hours per year) 1, 2015. It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes Collecting information, computing tax payable and contributions recorded are paid in the second year of operation Completing tax return, filing with agencies (calendar year 2016). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. Arranging payment or withholding Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2016, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the Total tax and contribution rate (% of pro t before machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally all taxes) spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income per Profit or corporate income tax capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess Social contributions, labor taxes paid by input VAT incurred in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive employer months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, sales and the machine and Property and property transfer taxes the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output VAT Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions in June 2016. taxes The corporate income tax audit process: Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect Post ling Index tax depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income Time to comply with a VAT refund tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily Time to receive a VAT refund noti ed the tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit 5% of the corporate income tax liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax Time to complete a corporate income tax audit return, but within the tax assessment period. OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 9 10.9 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Page 44   return, but within the tax assessment period. Doing Business 2018 France OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 9 10.9 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 139 160.7 160.7 55 (Luxembourg) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 62.2 40.1 40.1 18.47% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 92.40 83.45 83.45 99.38 (Estonia) Figure – Paying Taxes in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 86.70: United Kingdom (Rank: 23) 84.44: Spain (Rank: 34) 83.07: Regional Average (OECD high income) 82.14: Germany (Rank: 41) 78.55: France (Rank: 54) 68.29: Italy (Rank: 112) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores on the ease of paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the four component indicators – number of tax payments. time, total tax rate and post ling index – with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax rate. The nonlinear distance to frontier for the total tax rate is equal to the distance to frontier for the total tax rate to the power of 0.8. The threshold is de ned as the total tax rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 120 97.67 93.60 100 92.40 83.45 80 71.00 Index score 60 52.39 40 20 0 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Paying Taxes in France Total tax and contribution Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory rate (% of Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base profit) TTR onPage 45   Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Paying Taxes in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 120 97.67 93.60 100 92.40 83.45 80 71.00 Index score 60 52.39 40 20 0 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Paying Taxes in France Total tax and contribution Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory rate (% of Notes contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base profit) on TTR Employer paid - 1 online 80 various gross salaries 45.14 Social security rates contributions Territorial economic 1 online various rental value of fixed business 7.16 contribution (CET) rates assets for CFE and added value for CVAE Employer paid - 1 online 5.28% gross salaries 5.96 Payroll tax Real Estate tax 1 online various square meters or rental value 2.04 rates of fixed business assets for industrial establishment Social Solidarity 1 online 0.16% sales 1.20 Contribution of Companies (C3S) Corporate income 1 online 28 33.33% taxable profits 0.73 tax Employee paid - 0 jointly various gross salaries 0.00 withheld Social security rates contributions Fuel tax 1 0.4245 per liter 0.00 small Euro amount Stamp duty 1 0.00 small amount Value added tax 1 online 31 20% value added 0.00 not (VAT) included Totals 9 139 62.2 Page 46   Value added tax 1 online 31 20% value added 0.00 not (VAT) Business 2018 Doing France included Totals 9 139 62.2 Details – Paying Taxes in France – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 0.7 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 51.1 Other taxes (% of profit) 10.4 Details – Paying Taxes in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Post ling index (0-100) 92.40 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? Yes Restrictions on VAT refund process None Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) 25% - 49% Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) 10.5 79 Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) 6.2 94.27 Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 0% - 24% Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit (hours) 3.5 96.33 Time to complete a corporate income tax audit (weeks) No tax audit per 100 case study scenario Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, pro t tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable. The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The post ling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Trading across Borders Page 47   Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Doing Business 2018 France Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tari s) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Given the importance of trade digitalization, in Doing Business 2018, the Trading across Borders questionnaire included research questions on the availability and status of implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Single Window (SW) systems. With this information, Doing Business built a comprehensive dataset on the adoption and level of sophistication of electronic platforms in 190 economies. These data are not used to compute the distance to frontier score or ranking of the ease of doing business. The new dataset on EDI and SW systems is available here. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 or border handling in origin economy days are recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are required by destination economy and any transit submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and economies can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance Covers all documents required by law and in would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 practice, including electronic submissions of hours. information Border compliance Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Customs clearance and inspections Contributors are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. than 20% of shipments) Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and Handling and inspections that take place at the are informed about exchange rates. economy’s port or border Assumptions of the case study: - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Domestic transport Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in the largest Loading or unloading of the shipment at the business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the warehouse or port/border largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each Transport between warehouse and port/border economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) Traffic delays and road police checks while from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the largest value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each shipment is en route economy exports the product of its comparative advantage (de ned by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and the trading partner, as is the seaport, or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport, airport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 48   of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other Doing Business 2018 France government authorities. OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 0 12.7 12.7 0 (17 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 0 149.9 149.9 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance 1 2.4 2.4 1.0 (25 Economies) (hours) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 35.4 35.4 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 0 8.7 8.7 0.00 (21 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 0 111.6 111.6 0.00 (27 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance 1 3.5 3.5 1.0 (30 Economies) (hours) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 25.6 25.6 0.00 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 93.92: Regional Average (OECD high income) 93.76: United Kingdom (Rank: 28) 91.77: Germany (Rank: 39) 100.00: Spain (Rank: 1) 100.00: France (Rank: 1) 100.00: Italy (Rank: 1) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import (domestic transport is not used for calculating the ranking). Figure – Trading across Borders in France – Time and Cost Time Cost 1.2 1.2 1 1 1 1 0.8 0.8 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Page 49   Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Trading across Borders in France – Time and Cost Time Cost 1.2 1.2 1 1 1 1 0.8 0.8 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Details – Trading across Borders in France Characteristics Export Import Product HS 84 : Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical HS 8708: Parts and accessories of appliances; parts thereof motor vehicles Trade partner Germany Germany Border France- Belgium border crossing France- Belgium border crossing Distance (km) 225 225 Domestic transport 5 5 time (hours) Domestic transport 738 738 cost (USD) Details – Trading across Borders in France – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Details – Trading across Borders in France – Trade Documents Export Import Page 50   cost (USD) Doing Business 2018 France Details – Trading across Borders in France – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Export: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Details – Trading across Borders in France – Trade Documents Export Import CMR waybill CMR waybill Commercial invoice Commercial invoice Packing list Packing list Declaration de Bien d'Echange (DEB through Intrastat) Declaration de Bien d'Echange (DEB through Intrastat) Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. Page 51   Declaration de Bien d'Echange (DEB through Intrastat) Declaration de Bien d'Echange (DEB through Intrastat) Doing Business 2018 France Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable assets. Standardized Case Claim value EUR 66,669.00 Court name Paris Commercial Court City Covered Paris OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Time (days) 395 577.8 577.8 164.00 (Singapore) Cost (% of claim value) 17.4 21.5 21.5 9.00 (Iceland) Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 11.0 11.0 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 73.04: France (Rank: 15) 71.32: Germany (Rank: 22) 69.97: Spain (Rank: 26) Page 52   of judicial processes Quality Business Doing index (0-18) 2018 France 11.0 11.0 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 73.04: France (Rank: 15) 71.32: Germany (Rank: 22) 69.97: Spain (Rank: 26) 68.69: United Kingdom (Rank: 31) 66.76: Regional Average (OECD high income) 54.79: Italy (Rank: 108) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in France – Time and Cost Time Cost 1200 1120 45.7 50 1000 Cost (% of claim value) 40 800 Time (days) 30 23.1 577.8 600 499 21.5 510 17.4 17.2 437 20 395 400 14.4 10 200 0 0 France Germany Italy OECD high income Spain United Kingdom Figure – Enforcing Contracts in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality France 2.5 3 1 4.5 Germany 3 1.5 2 4.5 Italy 3 4 3 3 Spain 3 2.5 2.5 3 United Kingdom 2 5 3.5 4.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Page 53   16 0 0 France Germany Italy OECD high income Spain United Kingdom Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Enforcing Contracts in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality France 2.5 3 1 4.5 Germany 3 1.5 2 4.5 Italy 3 4 3 3 Spain 3 2.5 2.5 3 United Kingdom 2 5 3.5 4.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0­3) Case management (0­6) Court automation (0­4) Court structure and proceedings (­1­5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in France Indicator Time (days) 395 Filing and service 10 Trial and judgment 325 Enforcement of judgment 60 Cost (% of claim value) 17.4 Attorney fees 10.7 Court fees 2.7 Enforcement fees 4 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 11.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 4.5 Case management (0-6) 3.0 Court automation (0-4) 1.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Details – Enforcing Contracts in France – Measure of Quality Page 54   Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Doing Business 2018 France Details – Enforcing Contracts in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 11.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 4.5 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? Yes 1.5 2. Small claims court 1.5 2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes 2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes 3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0 4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? Yes, but manual 0.5 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0 Case management (0-6) 3.0 1. Time standards 0.0 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? No 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? n.a. 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 2. Adjournments 0.0 2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be No granted? 2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No 2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) Yes 1.0 time to disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? 4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the No 0.0 competent court? 5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court Yes 1.0 for use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court Yes 1.0 for use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 1.0 1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 the competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the Yes 1.0 competent court? Page 55   1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 Businesscourt? the competent Doing 2018 France 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the Yes 1.0 competent court? 3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? No 0.0 4. Publication of judgments 0.0 4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the No general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? 4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme No court level made available to the general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 1. Arbitration 1.5 1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? 1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public No order or public policy—that cannot be submitted to arbitration? 1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes 2. Mediation/Conciliation 1.0 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? 2.c. Are there nancial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., No if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Page 56   Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Doing Business 2018 France Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent Court fees in local currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over Fees of insolvency administrators the hotel’s real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes Lawyers’ fees enough money to operate otherwise. Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees In addition, Doing Business evaluates the adequacy and integrity of the Other related fees existing legal framework applicable to liquidation and reorganization Outcome proceedings through the strength of insolvency framework index. The index tests whether economies adopted internationally accepted good Whether business continues operating as a going practices in four areas: commencement of proceedings, management of concern or business assets are sold piecemeal debtor’s assets, reorganization proceedings and creditor participation. Recovery rate for creditors Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted Depreciation of furniture is taken into account Present value of debt recovered Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16) Sum of the scores of four component indices: Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 73.5 71.2 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 1.9 1.7 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Page 57   Cost (% of estate) 9.0 9.1 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Creditor participation index (0-4) Doing Business 2018 France OECD high OECD high Indicator France income income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 73.5 71.2 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 1.9 1.7 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 9.0 9.1 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 1 .. .. .. concern) Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.0 12.1 12.1 15.00 (6 Economies) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in France and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 90.27: Germany (Rank: 4) 80.24: United Kingdom (Rank: 14) 78.74: Spain (Rank: 19) 76.97: Italy (Rank: 24) 76.12: Regional Average (OECD high income) 73.91: France (Rank: 28) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in France – Time and Cost Time Cost 2 1.9 25 1.8 22.0 1.7 1.5 20 1.5 Cost (% of estate) 1.2 Time (years) 15 1.0 1 11.0 9.0 9.1 10 8.0 6.0 0.5 5 0 0 France Germany Italy OECD high income Spain United Kingdom Figure – Resolving Insolvency in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality France 6 3 1 1 Page 58   0 0 France Germany Italy OECD high income Spain United Kingdom Doing Business 2018 France Figure – Resolving Insolvency in France and comparator economies – Measure of Quality France 6 3 1 1 Germany 6 3 3 3 Italy 5.5 3 2 3 Spain 6 3 1 2 United Kingdom 5 3 2 1 OECD high income 5.4 2.8 2.3 1.9 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0­6) Commencement of proceedings index (0­3) Creditor participation index (0­4) Reorganization proceedings index (0­3) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in France and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar) 90 85.2 80.6 76.6 80 73.5 71.2 70 64.6 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Details – Resolving Insolvency in France Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding liquidation In France, the legislator stresses preventive procedures that can benefit companies that are (after an not yet in insolvent. But, under the case study assumptions, Mirage is already insolvent attempt at because it cannot pay the money owed to BizBank. Therefore, there are two possibilities – reorganization) other than out-of-court procedures-: (i) ask the opening of a judicial reorganization procedure, (ii) request liquidation. Because Mirage’s managements want to continue the company operating, it will request the opening of reorganization proceedings. The standard to choose between judicial reorganization and judicial liquidation is the final capacity to overcome the difficulties. This explains why the reorganization procedure can be chosen in the case of Mirage. The opening of reorganization proceedings will stop payments of pre- commencement creditors and impose a moratorium during the observation period (12 months and exceptionally 18). This would enable Mirage to obtain from Mirage, either a return of the outstanding debt, or more time to repay that would not last more than 10 years. But it is likely that the procedure will be converted to liquidation if Mirage cannot Page 59   France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom OECD high income Doing Business 2018 France Details – Resolving Insolvency in France Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding liquidation In France, the legislator stresses preventive procedures that can benefit companies that are (after an not yet in insolvent. But, under the case study assumptions, Mirage is already insolvent attempt at because it cannot pay the money owed to BizBank. Therefore, there are two possibilities – reorganization) other than out-of-court procedures-: (i) ask the opening of a judicial reorganization procedure, (ii) request liquidation. Because Mirage’s managements want to continue the company operating, it will request the opening of reorganization proceedings. The standard to choose between judicial reorganization and judicial liquidation is the final capacity to overcome the difficulties. This explains why the reorganization procedure can be chosen in the case of Mirage. The opening of reorganization proceedings will stop payments of pre- commencement creditors and impose a moratorium during the observation period (12 months and exceptionally 18). This would enable Mirage to obtain from Mirage, either a return of the outstanding debt, or more time to repay that would not last more than 10 years. But it is likely that the procedure will be converted to liquidation if Mirage cannot respect the engagements fixed in its reorganization plan or if it is manifestly impossible to agree on a plan. Outcome going concern If Mirage is liquidated, its activity could be provisionally continued to enable potential buyers to present offers to maintain all or part of the assets and activities. The activity will then be continued by the buyer. Time (in years) 1.9 According to our estimations, a reorganization attempt that is later converted into liquidation takes approximately 23 months. The observation period would take six months, if it is not renewed. If the procedure is converted to liquidation, the court fixes the time after which the closure of the procedure must be decided and may extend this period by a reasoned decision. There is no maximum duration of a bankruptcy procedure but its closure may be requested at any time by the liquidator, the debtor, the prosecutor, the court ex officio or even after two years from the judgment opening liquidation proceedings, by a creditor. Cost (% of 9.0 According to our estimations, a reorganization attempt that is converted to liquidation costs estate) approximately EUR 300,000 (9% of the value of the company). - (a) court fees: 200 EUR - (b) lawyer fees: 60-80,000 EUR - (c) Notification and publication fees: 600 EUR - (d) Administrator (30,000) and liquidator (30,000) fees - (e) Accountants and assessor fees: 30,000 EUR - (f) Auctioneer fees (or fees or the person in charge of the public sale): 5% (150,000 EUR). Decree n° 85-382 du 29 mars 1985 Recovery rate (cents on the 73.5 dollar) Details – Resolving Insolvency in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.0 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 3.0 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency (a) Debtor may 1.0 proceedings? le for both liquidation and reorganization Page 60   dollar) Doing Business 2018 France Details – Resolving Insolvency in France – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.0 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 3.0 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency (a) Debtor may 1.0 proceedings? le for both liquidation and reorganization Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? (a) Yes, a creditor 1.0 may le for both liquidation and reorganization What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (a) Debtor is 1.0 insolvency framework? generally unable to pay its debts as they mature Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 6.0 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential Yes 1.0 goods and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome Yes 1.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit Yes 1.0 after commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (b) Yes over 1.0 ordinary unsecured creditors but not over secured creditors Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 1.0 Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? (b) Only creditors 1.0 whose rights are a ected by the proposed plan Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization No 0.0 receive at least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors devided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization No 0.0 plan, does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 1.0 Page 61   Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization No 0.0 receive Doing at least as Business much as 2018 what they would obtain in a liquidation? France Are the creditors devided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization No 0.0 plan, does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 1.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial No 0.0 assets of the debtor? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request No 0.0 information from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to Yes 1.0 decisions accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost Page 62   (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Doing Business 2018 France Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave receive 100% of wages; (v) availability of ve fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Details – Labor Market Regulation in France Answer Hiring Page 63   Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Doing Business 2018 France Details – Labor Market Regulation in France Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? Yes Maximum length of a single xed-term contract (months) 18.0 Maximum length of xed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 18.0 Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 1765.1 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.3 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 2.0 Working hours Standard workday 7.0 Maximum number of working days per week 6.0 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 7.5 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 20.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 25.0 Restrictions on night work? Yes Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? Yes Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 30.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 30.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 31.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 30.3 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party noti cation if one worker is dismissed? No Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? No Third-party noti cation if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? Yes Page 64   Third-party Doing approval Business 2018 if nine workers are dismissed? France No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? Yes Priority rules for redundancies? Yes Priority rules for reemployment? Yes Redundancy cost Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 4.3 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 7.2 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 0.9 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 4.3 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 8.7 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 4.6 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? Yes Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? Yes Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 112.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? Yes Five fully paid days of sick leave a year? No Unemployment protection after one year of employment? Yes Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? 4.0 Business Reforms in France In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for France implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Protecting Minority Investors: France strengthened minority investors protections by increasing corporate transparency. Paying Taxes: France made paying taxes less costly by lowering rates for social security and training contributions. DB2017 Dealing with Construction Permits: France made dealing with construction permits less expensive by reducing the cost of obtaining a building permit Page 65   Registering Property: France made transferring property more expensive by increasing property transfer tax rate and Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? 4.0 Doing Business 2018 France Business Reforms in France In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for France implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2018 Protecting Minority Investors: France strengthened minority investors protections by increasing corporate transparency. Paying Taxes: France made paying taxes less costly by lowering rates for social security and training contributions. DB2017 Dealing with Construction Permits: France made dealing with construction permits less expensive by reducing the cost of obtaining a building permit Registering Property: France made transferring property more expensive by increasing property transfer tax rate and introducing an additional tax for businesses in Paris. Labor Market Regulation: France reformed its labor legislation by introducing changes to the administration of labor tribunals, extending Sunday and evening work in areas designated as international tourist zones and facilitating employee employer dialogue. DB2016 Paying Taxes: France made paying taxes less costly for companies by introducing a credit against corporate income tax and reducing labor tax rates paid by employers. DB2015 Starting a Business: France made starting a business easier by reducing the time it takes to register a company at the one-stop shop (Centre de Formalités des Entreprises). Labor Market Regulation: France substantially amended its labor market regulations, including the provisions dealing with large- scale collective redundancy processes. DB2014 Registering Property: France made transferring property easier by speeding up the registration of the deed of sale at the land registry. DB2012 Resolving Insolvency: France passed a law that enables debtors to implement a restructuring plan with nancial creditors only, without a ecting trade creditors. DB2010 Registering Property: France made transferring property easier and less time consuming by more fully implementing an online system that enables notaries to obtain encumbrance and ownership documents from the land registry electronically. Resolving Insolvency: France enhanced its insolvency process by encouraging preinsolvency workouts and eliminating the requirement that a public auctioneer provide the estimation of the debtor’s assets. DB2009 Paying Taxes: France made paying taxes easier for companies by changing the e ective rates for social security and payroll taxes and by making electronic ling mandatory for social security contributions by companies liable for more than €800,000 in such contributions. Trading across Borders: France speeded up and simpli ed customs clearance procedures by introducing an electronic customs declaration and eliminating the need to submit certain documents. Page 66   and by making electronic ling mandatory for social security contributions by companies liable for more than €800,000 in such contributions. Doing Business 2018 France Trading across Borders: France speeded up and simpli ed customs clearance procedures by introducing an electronic customs declaration and eliminating the need to submit certain documents. DB2008 Registering Property: France reduced the time required to register property by implementing a new system (Télé@ctes) allowing notaries to access the land registry electronically. Getting Credit: France strengthened its secured transactions system by launching a uni ed and geographically centralized collateral registry. Page 67   Getting Credit: France strengthened its secured transactions system by launching a uni ed and geographically centralized collateral registry. 2018 Doing Business France Page 68