How is a French code confirmed in Sirene and with INSEE?

In France, a code is confirmed in the Sirene directory, and the holder of the classification is INSEE, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. Service Public states that the APE code, also called the NAF code, is assigned by INSEE to identify the main branch of activity of a company or a business. It states that the Sirene directory can be consulted, and that a status notice for a company can be requested there.

From 1 January 2027 (FIXED), all companies and establishments will see their amended APE code according to NAF 2025, and the new code can be viewed and a rectification requested through the Sirene tool.

What is the Sirene directory?

The Sirene directory is the directory of companies and establishments maintained from INSEE data, and Service Public presents it alongside the Directory of companies as a place where company identification data are public. Service Public states that anyone can find or retrieve the SIREN or SIRET number of a company if necessary, and that the legal and financial characteristics of companies are accessible to all. The directory can be searched by name, company name, SIREN number or SIRET number, as Service Public explains for the Directory of companies. The Sirene directory holds the identity card of a company, in Service Public wording, and it shows the APE code for the unit. A Sirene entry is therefore a public record, and it should be read as the record held at the time of the check, with the date of the check recorded alongside it.

What is the SIREN number, and why is it the key?

The SIREN number is the company identifier used in the Sirene tool for the NAF 2025 check. Service Public states that, to view the new APE code and to request a rectification, the SIREN number of the company is given in the tool made available on the site sirene.gouv.fr. A name alone can match more than one unit, and establishments of the same company can hold different records. The SIREN number identifies the legal unit, and the SIRET number identifies the establishment within it. A confirmation should therefore start from the identifier, not from the name, and should record which identifier was used. A check that starts from a name and stops at the first match has not confirmed the entry for the unit in question.

How is the future APE code viewed and rectified?

Service Public states that it is possible to view the new APE code and to request a possible rectification, by giving the SIREN number in the tool on sirene.gouv.fr. The new APE code appears with the name 2025 APE Code and the 2025 Activity Label. The tool is the checking route for the change that takes effect from 1 January 2027 (FIXED). A reader should record the code shown, the label shown, and the date of the check, and should state in the record that the code shown is the future code, shown before the effective date. A rectification request is made through the same tool, and Service Public presents it as a request for a possible rectification, not as a self determined change. The holder decides the rectification, on the information the holder requires. This guide does not state the evidence the holder requires, because that was not verified in the pages consulted, and a reader should read the tool’s own instructions before submitting a request.

Item	Record for a French check
Identifier	SIREN number, as given in the tool
Directory	Sirene directory, sirene.gouv.fr
Code shown	2025 APE Code, with the 2025 Activity Label
Effective date	From 1 January 2027 (FIXED)
Holder	INSEE, which assigns the APE code

The table is the minimum record for a French check during the transition. A record that omits the effective date will confuse the future code with the code currently in force, and a record that omits the identifier will not identify the unit checked.

What does the APE code not decide?

The APE code identifies the main branch of activity for statistical and register purposes. It does not, by itself, decide tax, social security, collective agreement, licensing or funding eligibility, and this guide does not present it as doing so. The EUR-Lex summary states that the NACE legislation only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes. The French code is the national version of that classification, and its limits are the same. A question about an obligation for a specific business belongs to the authority that administers the obligation, and the APE entry should never be quoted as if it answered that question. The Sirene entry is the record of the classification entry. The obligation, where one exists, is recorded elsewhere.

Where is a French code confirmed?

The meaning of a NAF category is confirmed in the NAF documentation published by INSEE, and the move between versions is confirmed in the correspondence table between the old and new NAF versions. The entry for a specific company or establishment is confirmed in the Sirene directory, using the SIREN number, and a rectification is requested through the Sirene tool. Confirm the entry there, record the identifier, the code, the label and the check date, and name the effective date from 1 January 2027 (FIXED) in every record made before that date.