Financial Risk:

Moderate

Score:

61/100

Asset Disposals

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Q24 50/100

How effective are controls over the disposal of assets, and is information on these disposals, and the proceeds of their sale, transparent?

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Controls Score: 50 / 100
Disposal of real estate assets or property assets (equipments), and the proceeds of their sale, are supposedly overseen by several entities within the Ministry…
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Transparency of disposal process Score: 50 / 100
The “Mission de réalisation des actifs immobiliers de la défense” (MRAI) has 2 options: firstly to look only for the higher price because there…
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Transparency of financial results of disposals Score: 50 / 100
According to general « rapporteur » of the Military Ethics Committee, [1] all of the proceeds from real estate asset transactions finance real estate…
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Q25 67/100

Is independent and transparent scrutiny of asset disposals conducted by defence establishments, and are the reports of such scrutiny publicly available?

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Scrutiny Score: 75 / 100
The Cour des comptes is the highest audit institution that reviews, scrutinises, criticises, publishes reports and recommendations about all aspects of the State budget,…
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Independence Score: 100 / 100
No record of undue influence exerted by the executive or the military on the asset disposal process was found. [1]
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Transparency Score: 25 / 100
Audit reports on asset disposals aren’t publicly released on a regular basis. The Cour des comptes does publish reports about the “management of real…
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Secret Budgets

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Q26 100/100

What percentage of defence and security expenditure in the budget year is dedicated to spending on secret items relating to national security and the intelligence services?

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Score: 100 / 100
“Special funds” are secret funds, “dedicated to the financing of various actions related to the external and internal security of the State”, allocated to…
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Q27 25/100

Is the legislature (or the appropriate legislative committee or members of the legislature) given full information for the budget year on the spending of all secret items relating to national security and military intelligence?

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Score: 25 / 100
The controlling entity of the special funds is the Special Funds Verification Committee (CVFS), a special commission within the Parliamentary Delegation on Intelligence (DPR).…
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Q28 13/100

Are audit reports of the annual accounts of the security sector (the military and intelligence services) subject to parliamentary debate?

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Comprehensiveness Score: 25 / 100
Once a year, the CVFS publishes a short report about « special funds », in the form of an appendix to the DPR annual…
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Parliamentary scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
No trace was found of any discussion in Parliament about the findings and/or recommendations of the CVFS, appearing in the CVFS appendix of the…
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Q29 50/100

In law, are off-budget military expenditures permitted, and if so, are they exceptional occurrences that are well-controlled? In practice, are there any off-budget military expenditures? If so, does evidence suggest this involves illicit economic activity?

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Permitted exceptions Score: 0 / 100
Off-budget military expenditures are provided by law, but funds are regularly used in an opaque way: the DDAI, « decrees of accidental and unpredictable…
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Recording mechanisms Score: 100 / 100
DDAIs are mentioned [1] in the Finance Law (PLF). On average, between 2012 and 2015, they amounted to 12 million Euros. [2] The Finance…
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Prevalence Score: 50 / 100
Off-budget military and intelligence services expenditures happen on a regular basis, though the amounts, when compared to the Defence or Interior Security and Intelligence…
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Q30 50/100

Are mechanisms for accessing information from the defence sector effective?

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Legal framework Score: 50 / 100
In France, the accountability of public servants is a constitutional right, according to article 15 of the Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights. [1]…
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Classification of information Score: NS / 100
This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The “secret-défense” classification is the French legal framework that ensures that information is adequately…
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Effectiveness Score: 50 / 100
The public is able to formally request access to information. If that access is granted, but the Consultative Commission of the Secrecy of National…
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Q31 100/100

Do national defence and security institutions have beneficial ownership of commercial businesses? If so, how transparent are details of the operations and finances of such businesses?

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Extent of commercial ventures Score: 100 / 100
The Ministry of the Armed Forces (MOAF) does own some commercial entities. They are providers of the logistical needs of the armies. The main…
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Transparency Score: NA / 100
This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’. The ministry doesn’t literally “own” companies. It can have the usufruct of the non-fiscal benefits, but this does…
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Military-owned Businesses

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Q32 63/100

Are military-owned businesses subject to transparent independent scrutiny at a recognised international standard?

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Independent scrutiny Score: 75 / 100
The Cour des comptes evaluates all state-owned entities, military entities with commercial activity as well as state-owned defence-related companies. It does so based on…
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Transparency Score: 50 / 100
The Cour des comptes audits and reports are available online for everyone to read. However, only one example of an independent audit on state…
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Illegal Private Enterprise

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Q33 100/100

Is there evidence of unauthorised private enterprise by military or other defence ministry employees? If so, what is the government’s reaction to such enterprise?

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Prohibition Score: 100 / 100
The Defence Code strictly regulates private activities by military staff. [1] Military staff are, for example, allowed to sell their own goods, or work…
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Prevalence Score: 100 / 100
No examples of corruption were found in this regard, which suggests that the Deontology Commission [1] which decides as to which activity is compatible…
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Actual Military Spending

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Q77 50/100

Is comprehensive data on actual spending on defence published during the budget year?

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Proactive publication Score: 25 / 100
The Initial Finance Law sets initial credits for the four areas of expenditure of the Defence Budget for the budget year to come. These…
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Comprehensiveness Score: 75 / 100
General figures accounting for actual defence spending are disclosed in the “loi de règlement”, issued every year for the previous budget year. This act…
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Timeliness Score: 50 / 100
Details of actual spending are published within twelve months of the end of the financial year: – the “Loi de règlement” for the 2017…
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Comparison against budget Score: 50 / 100
The “loi de règlement”, in the form accessible to the public on the “Legifrance” wesbite, is very general and gives only the updated general…
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