General terms
General terms of service
October 2026 version. These terms apply to every service provided by CERIEP (sole proprietorship, SIREN 109 902 387, 9 rue des Colonnes, 75002 Paris, France; the operator's full identity is given in the legal notice) to business clients, unless otherwise stipulated in a contract signed by the parties, which prevails. This English version is provided for convenience; in case of discrepancy, the French version prevails.
1. Purpose
CERIEP provides institutional relations consultancy and professional event services: introductions to public and institutional actors, relational support for public-private partnership projects, memberships and professional networks, public affairs and institutional dialogue, design and organisation of professional events, meeting and seminar facilitation, follow-up of decisions and actions. Services are described on ceriep.com and specified in each order.
2. Orders
Every service is covered by a written order from the client (email or any agreed tool) stating at least the purpose, date, format, location, expected participants, the client's expectations and the deliverables requested (minutes, action follow-up, report), accepted in writing by CERIEP. A debriefing session after delivery is scheduled at the client's request. CERIEP replies to any request promptly and may accept or decline an order. For an event or an ongoing assignment, the order includes the programme, schedule, approved third-party cost budget and expected deliverables. The client commits to no minimum volume.
3. Prices
Meeting facilitation is charged per unit: a meeting is a session of up to four hours, including preparation, facilitation, minutes and follow-up. A longer session, or each additional half-day of a multi-day event, counts as an additional meeting. Events, public affairs assignments and ongoing outsourced functions are quoted separately: a fixed fee, or a percentage of the third-party cost budget coordinated by CERIEP, with a minimum per assignment. Any new request, any change of scope after the order is accepted and any service outside the order are subject to a supplement quoted and accepted before execution. Prices are exclusive of tax; CERIEP states the applicable VAT treatment on each invoice. No success fee is accepted for any step tied to a public decision.
4. Third-party costs and expenses
Third-party costs (venue, catering, audiovisual equipment, interpretation, printing, membership fees, travel and accommodation) are as a rule contracted and paid directly by the client, on the basis of quotations obtained by CERIEP and approved in writing. Where the client authorises CERIEP in writing to advance them, they are reimbursed at actual cost, without mark-up, upon receipts. Travel within the Paris region is included; travel outside the Paris region is approved in writing in advance. CERIEP is paid through its fees and receives no commission from suppliers.
5. Invoicing and payment
At the end of each month CERIEP sends a statement of the services performed; after the client's confirmation within five working days, it issues its invoice in euros. Invoices are payable by bank transfer within thirty days of receipt, without discount. Late payment automatically incurs interest at three times the French statutory rate and a fixed recovery indemnity of €40 (art. L. 441-10 of the French Commercial Code). Each party bears its own bank charges.
6. Cancellation and postponement
A meeting cancelled by the client less than forty-eight hours before its scheduled start is due at fifty per cent of its price; nothing is due for a cancellation made forty-eight hours or more in advance, nor for a meeting cancelled because of CERIEP. For an event cancelled after confirmation of the order, the client pays the share of fees corresponding to the work performed and the non-refundable third-party costs committed with its approval. Force majeure gives rise to no fee or compensation.
7. Obligations of the parties
CERIEP performs its services with the care and diligence of a professional in its field, under an obligation of means. It acts as an independent contractor, freely organises its methods and time, and is under no subordination. It does not subcontract meeting facilitation without the client's written consent and remains responsible for the logistics suppliers it engages.
The client appoints a contact person, provides accurate and complete information in good time, states its expectations in the order, pays or approves third-party costs, and warrants that the steps requested are lawful.
Scope of intervention. What CERIEP may say, request or sign on the client's behalf, and the tools or addresses the client provides, are set in the order or in the contract signed between the parties, which the client adapts to its own obligations. Outside that scope, CERIEP makes no commitment on behalf of the client or a third party. The client remains responsible for the positions it asks CERIEP to carry.
8. Compliance and ethics
The parties comply with applicable anti-corruption laws. Where an assignment qualifies as interest representation under French law no. 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016, CERIEP registers with the register of the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life as soon as the legal thresholds are reached and declares its clients and actions; the client agrees that its name may appear there. CERIEP applies the commitments published on its website, which form an integral part of these terms. It may refuse or discontinue any step contrary to the law or to those commitments, without compensation, after informing the client.
9. Confidentiality
Each party keeps confidential the information received from the other in connection with the assignment, during its term and for five years thereafter, and uses it only for its performance. CERIEP publishes no client reference without written consent. The client may request a specific non-disclosure agreement.
10. Personal data
CERIEP processes participants' personal data as a processor, on the client's documented instructions, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679: purpose limited to the assignment, appropriate security measures, notification of any breach without undue delay, return or deletion at the client's request and at the end of the assignment. No audio, video or photographic recording is made without prior consent.
11. Intellectual property
Deliverables (agendas, briefing notes, minutes, action trackers, reports) become the client's property upon payment of the corresponding fees, worldwide and for the legal duration of the rights. CERIEP retains its pre-existing methods, know-how and templates and grants the client a non-exclusive right to use those incorporated in the deliverables.
12. Liability
Except in the case of gross negligence, wilful misconduct or breach of sections 8 to 10, CERIEP's total liability for an assignment is limited to the fees paid or payable for that assignment during the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. CERIEP is not liable for decisions taken by the counterparts met or for the outcome of steps undertaken by the client.
13. Term and termination
Either party may end an ongoing assignment with thirty days' written notice, or without notice in the event of a material breach not remedied fifteen days after formal notice. Services performed and costs approved up to the effective date remain due; CERIEP delivers pending deliverables within five working days and returns the client's documents and access.
14. Force majeure
Neither party is liable for a failure caused by an event beyond its reasonable control. The affected party informs the other without delay.
15. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by French law. The parties seek an amicable settlement of any dispute within thirty days of its notification; failing that, the courts of Paris have exclusive jurisdiction, unless otherwise stipulated in a signed contract.