Section 1: Referral to and decision by the court.

The application to open safeguard proceedings is filed by the legal representative of the legal entity or by the individual debtor at the registry of the competent court. It sets out the nature of the difficulties it is encountering and the reasons why it is unable to overcome them. It states whether it undertakes to draw up the inventory under the conditions provided for in article L. 622-6-1 as well as the time required to draw it up or if he requests the appointment by the court of a person responsible for drawing up the inventory pursuant to the sixth paragraph of Article L. 621-4.

In addition to the annual accounts for the last financial year, the following documents must be attached to this application:

1° The unique identification number;

2° A cash flow statement;

3° A projected profit and loss account;

4° The number of employees on the date of the application, determined in accordance with the provisions of article R. 130-1 of the Social Security Code, and the amount of turnover, defined in accordance with the provisions of the sixth paragraph of Article D. 123-200, assessed at the closing date of the last accounting period;

5° A quantified statement of claims and debts, indicating, as appropriate, the name or designation and domicile or registered office of creditors and, for each creditor or debtor, the total amount of sums to be paid and recovered over a period of thirty days from the date of the application where the application is made by a sole trader with limited liability for the activity to which assets have been assigned, the debts shown on the quantified statement are those assigned to these assets and those that have arisen in the course of carrying on this activity ;

6° The statement of assets and liabilities of sureties as well as that of off-balance sheet commitments;

7° A summary inventory of the debtor's assets or, if assets have been assigned to the business in difficulty, of the assets assigned to the exercise of that business;

8° The name and address of the representatives of the staff delegation of the social and economic committee entitled to be heard by the court if they have already been appointed ;

9° A statement on honour certifying the absence of an ad hoc mandate or conciliation procedure in the eighteen months preceding the date of the request or, if the opposite is the case, mentioning the date of the appointment of the ad hoc mandatary or the opening of the conciliation procedure as well as the authority that carried it out when the request is made by a limited liability entrepreneur, this information concerns only the business in difficulty ;

10° Where the debtor practises a liberal profession subject to a legislative or regulatory statute or whose title is protected, the designation of the professional order or authority to which it is subject;

11° Where the debtor operates one or more classified installations within the meaning of Title I of Book V of the Environmental Code, a copy of the authorisation or registration decision or the declaration;

12° Where the debtor proposes an administrator for appointment by the court, an indication of the identity and address of the person concerned.

These documents must be dated, signed and certified as true and sincere by the debtor. Those referred to in 2° to 7°, with the exception of 4°, shall be drawn up on the date of the application or within the preceding seven days.

In the event that any of these documents cannot be provided or can only be provided incompletely, the application shall state the reasons preventing such production.