Accelerated safeguard procedure

Verified 09 March 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Where the conciliation procedure has failed as a result of the refusal of certain creditors to participate in a conciliation agreement, the company may request the court to initiate an accelerated safeguard procedure. The duration of this procedure is 4 months maximum.

The initiation of an accelerated safeguard procedure shall concern a company which fulfills the following conditions:

  • The procedure of conciliation did not succeed.
  • The company drew up a draft plan during the conciliation procedure.
  • The company's accounts are certified by an auditor or drawn up by a public accountant.

It may be requested only by the head of company or legal representative of the business (for example, manager of a SARL, president of a SAS). The latter shall refer the matter to the competent court, depending on the activity of the business:

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Commercial or craft activity

The legal representative of the business or the head of company must complete the opening request form next:

Request for the initiation of an accelerated safeguard procedure

The following documents must be attached to this form:

  • Annual accounts for the last financial year
  • Extract K-bis or proof of registration the National Register of companies (RNE)
  • Cash position
  • Forecast income statement
  • Number of employees employed at the date of the opening request
  • Quantified statement of receivables and debts
  • Statement of assets and liabilities of collateral and statement of off-balance sheet liabilities
  • Summary inventory of company assets
  • Name and address of the representatives of the staff delegation of the Social and Economic Committee (ESC) if they have already been appointed
  • Copy of the decision to initiate the conciliation
  • Financing table and, where the debtor draws up consolidated accounts, cash flow table
  • Cash budget for the next 3 months
  • Forecast funding plan
  • Draft backup plan

The request for opening may be transmitted in one of the following ways:

  • or online, through the digital tribunal:

Digital Court

  • either deposited or sent in 2 copies to Commercial court or tribunal for economic activities (TAE)).

Indeed, since the 1er January 2025, the commercial courts of 12 cities are replaced by economic activity courts (EACs) for the handling of ad hoc mandate, conciliation and administrative procedures. collective proceedings. The courts of the following cities are concerned: Avignon, Auxerre, Le Havre, Le Mans, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, Nanterre, Paris, Saint-Brieuc and Versailles.

The Department of Justice provides a simulator to determine the competent court:

Know the competent court for procedures to prevent or treat difficulties

To learn more about EATs, you can visit:

Companies in difficulty: designation and establishment of economic activity courts

Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Dila) - Prime Minister

Pour en savoir plus

Liberal activity

The legal representative of the business or the head of company must complete the opening request form next:

Request for the initiation of an accelerated safeguard procedure

The following documents must be attached to this form:

  • Annual accounts for the last financial year
  • Extract K-bis or proof of registration the National Register of companies (RNE)
  • Cash position
  • Forecast income statement
  • Number of employees employed at the date of application
  • Quantified statement of receivables and debts
  • Assets and liabilities of collateral and off-balance sheet liabilities
  • Summary inventory of company assets
  • Name and address of the representatives of the staff delegation of the Social and Economic Committee (ESC) if they have already been appointed
  • Designation of the professional order or authority of the company practicing a regulated liberal profession
  • Copy of the decision to initiate the conciliation
  • Financing table and, where the debtor draws up consolidated accounts, cash flow table
  • Cash budget for the next 3 months
  • Forecast funding plan
  • Draft backup plan

The application for initiation must be lodged at court or tribunal for economic activities (TAE).

Indeed, since the 1er January 2025, the courts of 12 cities are being replaced by economic activity courts (EACs) for the handling of ad hoc mandate, conciliation and administrative procedures. collective proceedings. The courts of the following cities are concerned: Avignon, Auxerre, Le Havre, Le Mans, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, Nanterre, Paris, Saint-Brieuc and Versailles.

The Department of Justice provides a simulator to determine the competent court:

Know the competent court for procedures to prevent or treat difficulties

Warning  

The judicial tribunal is competent for the following regulated professions of law: lawyers, notaries, judicial commissioners, commercial court clerks, judicial administrators and judicial agents.

To learn more about EATs, you can visit:

Companies in difficulty: designation and establishment of economic activity courts

Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Dila) - Prime Minister

Pour en savoir plus

The court decides on the opening of the procedure after a report from the conciliator on the progress of the conciliation and the prospects for adoption of the draft plan. It shall have the possibility of obtaining communication of all documents and documents relating to the conciliation procedure.

The judgment initiating the accelerated safeguard procedure designates the interveners to the procedure and establishes a short observation period.

Designation of interveners in the proceedings

In the judgment initiating the accelerated safeguard procedure, the court shall designate the speakers to the procedure:

  • Judicial agent
  • Judicial Administrator
  • Commissioner Judge

The court invites the social and economic committee (CSE) where it exists, to appoint a representative from among the employees of the company.

Judicial agent

The judicial representative is responsible for verifying the passive. As such, it receives the declarations of the creditors as well as the statement of salary claims for verification.

It then draws up a list of the claims declared and formulates proposals for admission or rejection. It is the judge-commissioner who decides the fate of the debt.

Judicial Administrator

The court shall designate one or more insolvency administrators. This is mandatory when the company has more than 20 employees and a turnover that exceeds €3 million HT: titleContent.

The court shall entrust it with one of the following tasks:

  • Supervision of the company in difficulty in its management
  • Assistance with all or some management actions
Judge Commissioner

It validates the list of claims, ensures the protection of the interests involved (creditors and company in difficulty) and the smooth running of the procedure.

Establishment of an observation period

From the opening judgment, a observation period is set up for a period of 2 months .

At the request of the company in difficulty and the insolvency administrator, the court may extend this period up to 4 months. The objective of the observation period is to arrive at a safeguard plan.

The objective of the observation period is to prepare a safeguard plan in order to overcoming difficulties met by the company.

Overview of the draft backup plan

The leader and theinsolvency administrator present the draft safeguard plan to the affected party classes.

The establishment of classes of affected parties is mandatory in the following cases:

  • The company has more than 250 employees and a net annual turnover that exceeds €20 million.
  • Net annual turnover exceeds €40 million.

FYI  

The draft plan presented by the company in difficulty is the one prepared as part of the conciliation procedure.

Vote by each affected party class

Each affected party class must vote on the draft plan. For the plan to be accepted, the decision must be taken by each class of affected parties by a 2/3 majority of the votes held by the members.

For creditors included in the accelerated safeguard plan, the passive is frozen. This means that they cannot sue the company in difficulty to obtain settlement of their claims during the life of the plan.

Employees and maintenance creditors are not affected by the accelerated safeguard plan.

Warning  

Creditors who did not participate in the draft plan drawn up during the conciliation procedure must declare their claims within 2 months of the opening of the procedure.

Decision of the court

The court must make a decision on the plan adopted by the affected classes of parties in a 2 months delay from the judgment initiating the accelerated safeguard procedure.

This period may be extended by up to 2 months at the request of legal representative business (or head of company) andinsolvency administrator. When the court approves the safeguard plan, creditors may be subject to debt averaging measures over a maximum period of 10 years.

At the end of the observation period, there are 2 possibilities:

  • Either an accelerated safeguard plan is adopted.
  • Either the court closes the accelerated safeguard procedure because an accelerated safeguard plan could not be adopted.

FYI  

Accelerated backup cannot be converted to recovery or in bankruptcy.