This scheme is aimed at a company with very up-to-date accounting. To benefit from this procedure, she must complete all conditions following:

• Have less than €3 million of indebted declared outside equity. This criterion shall be assessed at the closing date of the last accounting year.
• Have fewer than 20 employees at the date of the request to open the procedure
• Being in a situation of cessation of payments
• Have the funds necessary to pay your wage claims
• Have regular accounts, “ truthful and capable of giving a true and fair view of the financial situation of the business ”. In other words, the accounts must reflect the real economic situation of the company.
• Ability to develop a draft continuation plan in a three-month period

Only the Head of company (or the legal representative of the business) may request the opening of such proceedings. He shall address the court competent according to the activity pursued:

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Commercial and/or craft activity

The request for the opening of post-crisis treatment shall be accompanied by the following documents:

• Annual accounts for the last financial year
• Extract K-bis or certificate of registration in the National Register of companies (RNE)
• State of current liabilities and available assets, and declaration of cessation of payments
• Number of employees employed at the date of the request (name, address, etc.) and the balance sheet total and the amount of turnover at the closing date of the last accounting year
• Quantified statement of claims and debts, indicating as appropriate the name or name and domicile or registered office of the creditors and, for employees, the total amount of sums outstanding
• Statement of assets and liabilities of collateral and off-balance sheet commitments (e.g. asset and liability guarantees)
• Summary inventory of company assets
• If it is a business with responsible members in solidarity social debts (CNS: titleContent or the general partners in the SCS: titleContent and the SCA: titleContent(b) a list of the latter, with an indication of their name and domicile
• Cash flow statement (list of debts and debts) less than one month old
• Attestation on honor certifying that there is no procedure for ad hoc mandate or reconciliation within 18 months of the application

This request must be filed or sent in 2 copies to Commercial Court or Economic Activities Court (EAT).

Indeed, since the 1^er january 2025, the commercial courts of 12 cities are replaced by Economic Activities Tribunals (EATs) for the processing of ad hoc, conciliation and collective proceedings. The courts of the following cities are concerned: Avignon, Auxerre, Le Havre, Le Mans, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, Nanterre, Paris, Saint-Brieuc and Versailles.

The Ministry of Justice provides a simulator to know the competent court:

Know the court competent for procedures for the prevention or treatment of difficulties

Please note

For more information on EATs, please visit:

Companies in difficulty: designation and establishment of economic activity tribunals

Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Dila) - Prime Minister

Pour en savoir plus

Liberal activity

The request for the opening of post-crisis treatment shall be accompanied by the following documents:

• Annual accounts for the last financial year
• Extract K-bis or certificate of registration in the National Register of companies (RNE)
• State of current liabilities and available assets, and declaration of cessation of payments
• Number of employees employed at the date of the request (name, address, etc.) and the balance sheet total and the amount of turnover at the closing date of the last accounting year
• Quantified statement of claims and debts, indicating as appropriate the name or name and domicile or registered office of the creditors and, for employees, the total amount of sums outstanding
• Statement of assets and liabilities of collateral and off-balance sheet commitments (e.g. asset and liability guarantees)
• Summary inventory of company assets
• Designation of the professional body or authority responsible for the company (college of nurses, bar association, etc.)
• In the case of a business with members jointly and severally liable for social debts ( PCS: titleContent, SCM: titleContent, SELCA: titleContent with a list of them and an indication of their name and domicile)
• Cash position (list of claims and liabilities) less than 1 month old
• Attestation on honor certifying that there is no procedure for ad hoc mandate or reconciliation within 18 months of the application

This application must be filed with the court or the Economic Activities Tribunal (EAT).

Indeed, since the 1^er january 2025, the judicial courts in 12 cities are replaced by Economic Activities Tribunals (EATs) for the processing of ad hoc, conciliation and collective proceedings. The courts of the following cities are concerned: Avignon, Auxerre, Le Havre, Le Mans, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, Nanterre, Paris, Saint-Brieuc and Versailles.

The Ministry of Justice provides a simulator to know the competent court:

Know the court competent for procedures for the prevention or treatment of difficulties

Warning  

The court has jurisdiction over the following regulated professions of law: lawyers, notaries, commissioners of justice, registrars of commercial courts, court administrators and judicial agents.

For more information on EATs, please visit:

Companies in difficulty: designation and establishment of economic activity tribunals

Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Dila) - Prime Minister

Pour en savoir plus

Observation period

The court shall examine the request for the opening of the post-crisis processing procedure. If it considers that it is justified, it initiates the procedure (in a judgment initiating the procedure) and appoints a judicial representative responsible for overseeing the management of the Head of company and representing the creditors.

The opening judgment starts a period of observation that lasts Maximum 3 months.

After 2 months, the court shall decide whether to proceed with the exit procedure for the remaining month where the company has sufficient financial capacity.

Verification of liabilities

In the post-crisis processing procedure, the verification of liabilities is much lighter. The creditors of the company need not perform declaration of claims.

In the 10 days after the opening judgment of the proceedings, the list of claims shall be lodged by the company at the registry of the court. The Registrar shall provide a copy of this list to the legal representative. The auditor checks that the list complies with the company's accounting documents.

The authorized representative shall inform each creditor on the list. The creditors then have one month from the date of transmission to contest the existence or amount of their claim.

If the claims are not contested, the continuation plan may be drawn up.

At the end of the observation period (maximum 3 months), the court has several options: it can adopt a continuation plan, open a bankruptcy or reorganization procedure or close the procedure.

Adoption of a continuation plan

The continuation plan is prepared by the Head of company with the help of the court-appointed court representative. It must be adopted in a three-month period (maximum duration of observation period).

This plan only concerns claims on the list drawn up by the Head of company and which arose before the opening of proceedings. It may provide for payment periods and debt forgiveness.

It is then presented to the court which determines the continuation plan duration. This period may not exceed 10 years.

The court shall adopt the continuation plan under the same conditions as those laid down for the safeguard procedure.

The plan concerns only the prior claims at the opening of proceedings and included in the list of creditors drawn up by the director. It does not cover the following claims:

• Wage claims, i.e. amounts paid to a related employee under his/her employment contract (salary, back pay, holiday pay, notice pay, termination pay)
• Claims arising out of tort (sums due in connection with a criminal conviction for an offense)
• Claims of less than €500
• Maintenance claims

The plan provides for the payment of the liability to be staggered over a maximum period of 10 years. On the other hand, it cannot provide for the transfer of the company or the redundancies.

Initiation of judicial redress or liquidation

If the company is unable to present a viable continuation plan within 3 months of the opening judgment, the court may initiate a judicial reorganization or liquidation procedure if the conditions are met.

It may be requested by:

• Head of company or legal representative of the business
• Agent of Justice
• Public Prosecutor

Closure of proceedings

The court shall order the closure of proceedings if a continuation plan has not been submitted within the three-month period.