The finalisation of the Mining Code reform marks a decisive turn in French extractive law, aligning industrial sovereignty with environmental excellence at a moment when critical raw materials underpin Europe’s energy transition. The four decrees published in the Journal Officiel on 28 August 2025 close a cycle of legislative modernisation initiated by the Climate and Resilience Law of August 2021. What emerges is a legal architecture that places environmental scrutiny at the heart of mining governance, reshaping the balance of rights and obligations for operators, communities, and the State.

At the centre of this transformation lies the mandatory analyse environnementale, économique et sociale (AEES), an unprecedented evaluative mechanism requiring project sponsors to demonstrate not only technical feasibility but also ecological compatibility and social acceptability. More than an administrative checklist, the AEES obliges operators to justify the long-term coherence of their projects with territorial dynamics and national resource strategy. By introducing the concept of “serious environmental doubt” as a discretionary ground for ministerial refusal, the reform effectively inverts the burden of proof, drawing inspiration from the precautionary principle to elevate environmental interests above presumptions of economic utility.

Financial guarantees, a recurrent weakness of past frameworks, have been substantially reinforced. The new provisions extend the obligation to establish funds covering post-exploitation monitoring, emergency interventions, and remediation works to overseas territories, addressing historical gaps in environmental liability. This ensures that the costs of closure and ecological repair no longer risk falling upon the taxpayer.

The reform also broadens the democratic dimension of mining governance. Local authorities now benefit from reinforced consultation rights, while public inquiries become a standard feature of project authorisations. Site monitoring commissions, though optional, offer civil society a permanent platform to scrutinise the evolution of extractive activities. This participatory layer reflects a shift from technocratic opacity to shared accountability.

Beyond the national framework, the French reform anticipates the trajectory of European due diligence regimes and corporate environmental responsibility. By embedding precaution, traceability, and stakeholder involvement into mining law, France positions itself as a normative frontrunner, likely to influence forthcoming EU directives. The decrees—ranging from general licensing procedures to specific regimes for geothermal and marine aggregates—consolidate this ambition into binding law.

In practice, the new Mining Code sets a demanding benchmark. Operators will confront heightened compliance obligations but also gain access to a jurisdiction increasingly recognised as a laboratory for responsible extraction. For France, this reform crystallises a dual objective: securing access to critical minerals essential for the green transition while safeguarding its environmental credibility in the eyes of citizens, markets, and international partners.

Source: Décrets n°2025-851 à 2025-854, JO du 28 août 2025