ETHICS & COMPLIANCE

Third-parties assessment

"Third parties assessment", or "ethical due diligence" refers to all the checks that ENGIE carries out before entering into a contractual or commercial relationship with a third party (partner, subcontractor, supplier, prime contractor, customer, partner, buyer, seller, etc.) in order to identify the risks related to human rights, fundamental freedoms, health and safety of people and the environment, as well as the ethical risks of a company, its management, its shareholding, its media and legal background, suspicions of fraud, money laundering, corruption, sanctions, etc.

 

Back to the main page of ENGIE's vigilance plan

 

A first level of due diligence is carried out internally, using public databases or specialized tools. In the event that this analysis reveals red flags, ENGIE carries out a so-called level 2 due diligence, either by the Due Diligence Bureau (DDB) of the Ethics, Compliance & Privacy Department of ENGIE or via external service providers.
The due diligence is then recorded in a catalogue held by the same unit.
Indeed, ENGIE has chosen to be part of an innovative trend by creating its own "team" of investigators (the DDB). It is made up of ENGIE employees who are specialised in economic intelligence and carry out due diligence using the same tools as specialised external service providers.

This due diligence is implemented within the framework of several policies:

  • Due diligence of sponsorship beneficiaries & partnerships;
  • Due diligence of partners in investment projects;
  • Embargo policy;
  • Due diligence of Business consultants;
  • Due diligence of suppliers and subcontractors.


Focus on two policies: those relating to partners in the context of investment projects and those relating to suppliers and subcontractors.

 

As part of the investment projects

All investment projects, whether for sale, acquisition, partnership or other investment, are subject to systematic due diligence.
Each entity must, prior to any investment project, make a list of its co-contractors (whether the customer, the supplier or direct subcontractor, the joint venture partner or the project company, etc.) and carry out due diligence.
This due diligence must draw up an exhaustive table of all the risks presented by the company (country risk, human rights risk, environmental risk, health and safety risk, corruption risk, money laundering risk, etc.), existence of an ethical process, etc. 
For more information, see the policies mentioned above.

 

With suppliers

For all the entities of the ENGIE Group, due diligence must be carried out in accordance with the mapping of the risks as well as the scope of use of the suppliers in the consolidated entities of the group.
The term "supplier" refers to external companies with which the Group and its entities have a direct contractual relationship, which includes: on the one hand, companies that supply a good or a service; and on the other hand, those that provide a service, whether or not in addition to a supply, and which are called "direct subcontractors or subcontractors of rank 1".
Due diligence must be carried out at least on all the Group's preferred and strategic suppliers, as well as on the major suppliers. In parallel, each entity performs the same exercise on the suppliers it has identified as being at risk.
If necessary, ENGIE also carries out due diligence on the entire supply chain to ensure compliance with our ethical rules and our vigilance plan.
In addition, the identification of one or more risks systematically leads to the implementation of preventive or remediation mechanisms or procedures (in particular via ethical clauses with the possibility of terminating the contract, monitoring of the company, etc.).
Once a risk has been identified, ENGIE evaluates and builds the best solution and proposes appropriate remediation measures.
The evaluation of the severity of the identified risk determines whether or not to consider a contractual outcome with the third party. Only if the risk is assessed as too important or uncontrollable should the project be stopped for ethical reasons. However, as soon as the risk is considered to be under control, even though it exists, a contractual outcome can be envisaged.

Progress

In 2022, 100% of the partners in the Group’s investment projects were subject to due diligence, including a systematic study of “vigilance” issues by the ethics line. 
Directly or indirectly, 100% of Ethics Officers have access to a specialized due diligence tool. Due diligence is performed on third parties (suppliers, subcontractors, partners, ordering contractors, etc.) in accordance with the due diligence policies. In 2022, the Group's Ethics Officers and Ethics Correspondents reported that more than 17,000 level 1 due diligence were carried out using the due diligence tools.
In addition, the procurement department systematically evaluates the Group's new preferred and major suppliers through a due diligence carried out by Category Managers and Chief Procurement Officers before contracting. This rule has been progressively implemented since 2019 on the panel of 1,563 recurring suppliers representing 38% of expenditure excluding energy. In 2022, the procurement line has performed an ethical assessment by EcoVadis of around 400 preferred and major suppliers. The objective is to have an additional 250 to 300 preferred and major suppliers assessed each year.

Some assessments are supplemented by on-site audits. For example, in 2020 AMEA region carried out 48 audits of the site facilities for foreign workers (United Arab Emirates and Bahrain).
Indeed, as part of the supplier’s pre-qualification in categories in which manpower is required, AMEA region implemented in 2019 a standard audit in situ (onsite visit of the supplier), Procurement & Health & Safety, on 4 axes: work planning, H&S and work environment, CSR and Quality Management. Each supplier is evaluated, and improvement actions defined with them. The total scoring is shared with all the entities in the region. In particular related to Human Rights and as part of the CSR audit we look into: salaries payment process and accommodation conditions of the workforce. 

See the procurement approach for more information.