11/01/2022
A new obligation for associations and foundations applying for a subsidy or an agreement: the “Republican Commitment Contract”
Introduced by the Law n°2021-1109 of August 24, 2021 reinforcing the respect of the principles of the Republic (“Loi confortant le respect des principes de la République”), the “Republican Commitment Contract” (“Contrat d’engagement républicain”) aims to ensure the use of public resources by associations and foundations in accordance with the French Republican principles. Its content has been unveiled by the Decree n°2021-1947 of December 31, 2021.
Scope: since January 3, 2022, an association or a foundation requesting a public subsidy or an agreement from a public entity must suscribe a Contrat d’engagement républicain as in the annex to the Decree. The Contract binds managers, employees, members and volunteers.
Content: the Contrat d’engagement républicain contains 7 commitments for the concerned organizations: respect for the French Republic Laws, freedom of conscience, freedom of the members of the association, equality and non-dscrimination, fraternity and prevention of violence, respect for the dignity of the human person and respect for the symbols of the French Republic.
Publicity: members of the organization must be informed of the existence of the Contract by a publication in the buildings or on the website if it has one.
Sanctions: the Decree specifies that in the event of a breach of the Contrat d’engagement républicain, the organization faces a cancellation of the subsidy in proportion to the period remaining at the date of the breach.
In practice : the Cerfa form n°12156*06 for subisidies applications has been modified in order to take into account this new obligation. Organizations applying for an agreement will have to comply with this new obligation with the administrative authority in charge and according to the formalism defined thereof.
