Section 1: Conciliation procedure.

All collective labour disputes may be submitted to conciliation procedures. Disputes which, for whatever reason, have not been submitted to a conventional conciliation procedure established either by the collective labour agreement or by a special agreement, may be referred to a national or regional conciliation commission. When the dispute arises in connection with the establishment, revision or renewal of a branch agreement or a professional or cross-industry agreement, the Minister…

The parties shall give every facility to the members of the conciliation boards to enable them to fulfil the function assigned to them.

The parties shall appear in person before the conciliation boards or, in the event of serious impediment, shall be represented by a person empowered to negotiate and conclude a conciliation agreement. Any legal entity that is a party to the dispute shall appoint a duly authorised representative with the power to negotiate and conclude a conciliation agreement. If one of the parties duly convened does not appear or is not…

When a party duly summoned in accordance with the conditions set out in article L. 2522-3 fails to appear before the conciliation commission for a legitimate reason or is not represented, the president of the commission will draw up a report. This report is submitted to the administrative authority, which forwards it to the public prosecutor.

At the end of the Conciliation Committee’s meetings, the Chairman will draw up minutes recording the agreement, total disagreement or partial disagreement of the parties, which will be notified to them immediately. The minutes shall specify the points on which the parties have reached agreement and those on which disagreement persists. The conciliation agreement is enforceable under the conditions set out in article L. 2524-5.

If the conciliation procedure fails, the dispute shall be submitted either to the mediation procedure under the conditions provided for in Chapter III, or to the arbitration procedure provided for in Chapter IV if both parties so agree.