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Ethics and transparency at Expertise France
At Expertise France, we are committed to demonstrating a culture of integrity and transparency in our work and interactions with suppliers, partners and civil society organisations in receipt of subventions. In doing so, we help combat corruption, influence-peddling, fraud, money laundering, and all other illegal practices.
To do this, we have several processes in place to guarantee transparency and uphold our values in every project we work on.
“With the rest of the AFD group, Expertise France is firm in its determination to fight corruption in all its forms, in both our projects and beyond. This burden falls on our shoulders in two ways. Firstly, in how we carry out our projects generally. And secondly, in that some of our projects just so happened to be about improving governance in our partner countries to fight corruption.”
- CEO of Expertise France
Code of Conduct
Our Code of Conduct stipulates the values and rules to be followed by all personnel in our organisation. It describes the standards of behaviour that are expected, and serves as a set of guidelines to prevent acts that are considered unethical by the agency. It helps our personnel behave in an exemplary manner in their daily work.
Group Ethics Charter
This charter was adopted across the AFD group when Expertise France became a subsidiary in 2022. It aims to strengthen our core values of integrity, respect and responsibility. The Group Ethics Charter guides our decisions, safeguards our reputation and governs our professional relationships.
By adhering to this charter, we reaffirm our commitment individually and as an agency to act in an exemplary, transparent manner in France and overseas.
Resources to download
Our whistleblowing platform
In addition to our Code of Conduct and Group Ethics Charter, we have a whistleblowing platform. This can be used to report concerns and grievances. It is open to our personnel as well as to external stakeholders – suppliers, clients and service providers. This is in accordance with French laws 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016 and 2022-401 of 21 March 2022 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the protection of whistleblowers.
This platform gives us an accessible, secure, confidential way to process whistleblower reports and maintain our integrity, transparency and ethical standards in everything we do. The platform can be used to report crimes and infringements, violations, or attempts to conceal violations of laws, regulations, the Code of Conduct or Group Ethics Charter. It can also be used to report threats or actions contrary to public interest.
These reports may relate to:
- Corruption, fraud and influence peddling
- Verbal and social bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual violence
- Money laundering and funding of terrorism
- Anti-competitive conduct and misappropriation of Expertise France resources
- Conflicts of interest
- Breaches of confidentiality
- Any act that violates our Code of Conduct or is punishable by law
Our platform is open to a wide range of people:
- Expertise France personnel
- Former employees if their report concerns their time at Expertise France
- Job applicants if they believe their application was rejected because of one of the illegal practices targeted by this platform (discrimination, corruption, anti-competitive conduct, etc.)
- Temporary or off-payroll workers for Expertise France
- Suppliers and their personnel if the report concerns something that Expertise France has done
- NGOs and civil society organisations and their personnel if the report concerns something that Expertise France has done
We guarantee that the report is treated with the strictest confidentiality. This applies both to the identity of the person making the report and the information the report contains. Whistleblowers are recommended to provide contact information so that we can follow up with them if we need additional information. The contact information can be anonymised if you do not wish to be identified.
The whistleblower must be a physical person who acts in good faith and without financial compensation. Whistleblowers are protected against all forms of reprisal, including suspension from work, termination of employment, harassment or any form of unfavourable treatment.
To report a concern or grievance, follow these steps:
- Download and fill in the report form
- Send the completed form in one of the following ways:
Email:
Address: alerte-afd@tutanota.com
This email address is hosted on a secure messaging platform to which only our ethics officer has access.
Letter:
Post the form inside two envelopes:
- On the outside envelope, write “À l’attention du Pôle Risque, Conformité et Contrôle Interne”
- On the inside envelope which cannot be seen from the outside, write “Référente Alerte Éthique : Confidentiel, ne pas ouvrir”
- Postal address: 40, boulevard de Port-Royal, 75005 Paris, France
No matter which way the report is sent, an acknowledgement of receipt is sent to the whistleblower within 7 working days. This informs the whistleblower that their report has been received and is being processed. If necessary, additional information may be requested to determine whether the report is justified.
Whistleblowers are protected by law. However, they also have strict obligations:
- The whistleblower must act in good faith, without malicious intent or personal animosity
- The facts and events in the report must be plausible and based on credible evidence or first-hand information
If a report is deliberately false or malicious, the whistleblower may be held responsible and face legal or disciplinary action.
