France Finalizes Its E-Invoicing Rulebook: Decree 2026-677 and the PDP-to-PA Rename
With five weeks to go before France's 1 September 2026 e-invoicing mandate, Decree No. 2026-677 and an Order of 27 July 2026 finalized the rulebook — including officially renaming PDPs to 'Plateformes Agréées' (PA) — while DGFiP signals a soft-landing enforcement approach.
France's e-invoicing reform has moved from "mostly settled" to legally finalized with barely five weeks left before the 1 September 2026 go-live. Decree No. 2026-677 and an accompanying Order, both dated 27 July 2026, were published in the Journal Officiel on 28 July 2026, closing out the regulatory framework for what the government calls the "généralisation de la facturation électronique" — the generalization of electronic invoicing between businesses.
The PDP-to-PA Rename Is Now Official
The decree formally replaces the term PDP (Plateforme de Dématérialisation Partenaire) with PA (Plateforme Agréée) — "Approved Platform" — across the regulatory text. The DGFiP (French tax administration) had already been using "plateforme agréée" informally in communications since 2025; the July 2026 texts make it the official legal term. The rationale given: "partner" implied an optional, voluntary service, when in fact these platforms hold a mandatory, state-accredited role in the reform. Functionally, nothing changes — an approved PA is still the only type of entity permitted to exchange B2B e-invoices and transmit e-reporting data to the tax authorities on a business's behalf, alongside the free government portal (PPF).
What Else the Texts Confirm
Enacted under Article 123 of the 2026 Finance Act (Law No. 2026-103 of 19 February 2026), the decree and order update Annex II of the French General Tax Code (Code général des impôts) and confirm the PPF's narrowed role: since October 2024, the public portal has focused solely on addressing invoices via the central business directory (Article 289 bis CGI) and managing the data-collection channel for the administration under Article 242 nonies G of Annex II — rather than acting as a full invoicing platform itself.
A Softer Start Than Some Feared
Separately, the DGFiP's Director General had already signaled on 7 May 2026 that no penalties would be imposed from 1 September 2026 — businesses will first be contacted directly before any enforcement action, described internally as a "start-up doctrine" (doctrine de démarrage) for the reform's first months. On 1 August 2026, the industry body FNFE-MPE released a three-part go-live checklist covering organizational, functional, and technical readiness, aimed at the businesses and PAs racing to be ready.
Confirmed Dates — No Change
None of this alters the underlying timeline:
- 1 September 2026: large and medium businesses must be able to send and receive; all businesses must be able to receive
- 1 September 2027: small businesses and micro-enterprises must also be able to send
What French Businesses Should Do Now
- Confirm your PA's accreditation status on the DGFiP's published list — the terminology changed, but the accreditation registry is the same one to check.
- Don't rely on the "no penalties" grace period as a reason to delay — being contactable and cooperative under the start-up doctrine still assumes you are genuinely working toward compliance, not ignoring the mandate.
- Use the FNFE-MPE checklist as a structured way to sanity-check organizational, functional, and technical readiness before 1 September.
Sources
Légifrance, Décret n° 2026-677 du 27 juillet 2026 relatif à la généralisation de la facturation électronique; Compta-Online, Facturation électronique : décret et arrêté du 27 juillet 2026.
