These regulations are based on the concept of “installations classified for environmental protection” (ICPE) introduced by the law of July 16, 1976, to regulate major industrial technological risks. Current major risk prevention policies have been structured in particular by the law of July 22, 1987 on the organization of civil security and major risk prevention, the Act of February 2, 1995, known as the “Barnier Act,” on strengthening environmental protection, and the Act of July 30, 2003, known as the “Bachelot Act,” on the prevention of technological and natural risks.
This French system is part of a European legal framework defined by the Directive of June 24, 1982, known as the “Seveso Directive” (updated in 1996 and 2012), which was also transposed into French law in the Environmental Code.
The simplification of administrative procedures was initiated with the order on single environmental authorisation applicable since 1 March 2017. This trajectory is being continued with the law of October 23, 2024 on green industry.
The regulations enshrined the right of citizens to information on major risks in the law of July 22, 1987; and this right was reaffirmed by the law of August 13, 2004, on the modernization of civil security.
