ESUS approval — socially useful solidarity enterprise

Social and solidarity economy (ESS) enterprises within the meaning of article 1 of Act no. 2014-856 of 31 July 2014: associations, cooperatives, mutual societies, foundations, and commercial companies meeting the ESS conditions (a purpose beyond the mere sharing of profits, democratic governance written into the articles, the bulk of profits allocated to maintaining and developing the business) and carrying the ESS mention in the trade register. Work-integration organisations, adapted enterprises, sheltered workshops (ESAT), neighbourhood management companies, intermediary associations and mission-driven businesses are the most frequent applicants.

What this scheme covers

• C.1Four cumulative conditions set by article L. 3332-17-1 of the Labour Code: pursuing the search for social utility as the main objective, in the sense of article 2 of the 2014 Act; bearing a cost induced by that objective that weighs significantly on the income statement or on financial profitability; complying with a cap on pay; and having no equity securities admitted to trading on a financial market.
• C.2A quantified pay cap: the average of the sums paid, bonuses included, to the five best-paid employees or executives must not exceed seven times the annual pay of a full-time employee on the minimum wage — or on the industry minimum if higher — and the single highest pay in the company must not exceed ten times that same reference.
• C.3A requirement on the articles of association: the social-utility and pay conditions must appear in the company's articles. A director's undertaking or a mention in the annual report is not enough — it is the most common ground for rejection, and it means holding an extraordinary general meeting before any filing.
• C.4A limited term: approval is granted for five years, cut to two years for companies created less than three years earlier. It is not renewed automatically; renewal means a fresh application and a fresh assessment.
• C.5Reserved funding: access to the solidarity pocket of « 90/10 » employee-savings funds, which every company savings plan has had to offer employees since the 2008 economic modernisation act, and eligibility for the enhanced income-tax relief on subscriptions to the capital of solidarity enterprises. Specialist social-economy funders also use the approval to frame their support.
• C.6A reform ahead: Act no. 2026-403 of 26 May 2026 on the simplification of economic life removes, from 1 January 2027, the statutory list of organisations approved as of right and replaces it with a presumption benefiting ESS enterprises carrying out socially useful activities and belonging to categories to be defined by decree. Until that decree is published, the exact scope of the organisations concerned remains unknown.

The link with Qualiopi

ESUS approval and Qualiopi certification never meet in the legal texts: the first qualifies a business model geared to social utility, the second attests to the quality of the process behind a training service. Neither replaces the other, and approval has never made a training course fundable by a skills operator. The confusion is common in the social economy, where many organisations do both: an integration charity training the employees on its programmes, a business-and-employment cooperative selling training to local firms, an adapted enterprise opening a training centre. Those organisations need the approval to attract solidarity savings and equity, and Qualiopi certification to make their courses eligible for public and pooled funding. Two files, two authorities — the prefect on one side, an accredited certification body on the other — and two renewal calendars not to be confused.

The process, summarised

1. 1.First check that the organisation belongs to the social and solidarity economy within the meaning of article 1 of the Act of 31 July 2014. Associations, cooperatives, mutual societies and foundations qualify by their legal form; a commercial company must meet the ESS conditions in its articles and carry the corresponding mention in the trade register. Without that, an application is pointless.
2. 2.Characterise social utility by reference to article 2 of the 2014 Act: support for people in fragile situations, the fight against exclusion and inequality, education for citizenship, or a contribution to sustainable development, the energy transition, cultural promotion or international solidarity — the last branch counting only where the activity also produces an impact under the earlier ones.
3. 3.Bring the articles of association into line before filing: the social-utility objective and the pay cap must appear explicitly. The application refers to the numbers of the relevant articles, which often means convening an extraordinary general meeting several weeks ahead.
4. 4.Demonstrate the significant impact on the business model. Decree no. 2015-719 of 23 June 2015 and the implementing provisions set out two routes: a cost test — operating costs linked to socially useful activities account for at least 66 % of total operating costs over the last financial years — or a capped financial-profitability test. This is the part of the file that takes the most accounting work.
5. 5.File the application with the prefect of the department where the registered office is located, by any means giving a certain date of receipt: the file is assessed by the DDETS or DDETSPP (the DRIEETS in the Paris region). Attach the articles, the accounts for the last financial years, the registration extract and evidence for each of the four conditions.
6. 6.Track the assessment period: silence from the prefect for two months from receipt of a complete file counts as an acceptance decision. Keep the acknowledgement of receipt, which starts that clock and serves as evidence for funders where approval is implicit. Then diarise the expiry — five years, or two for a company under three years old — and prepare the renewal before the term.