France 2.2

Cultural rights have become an increasingly important dimension of French cultural policy, both in domestic governance and in international cultural cooperation. They are grounded in the principle that access to culture, participation in cultural life and freedom of artistic expression are fundamental human rights, as recognised by international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), and the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005).

In France, cultural rights are closely linked to the complementary objectives of cultural democratisation and cultural democracy. They encompass not only access to cultural goods and services, but also the right of individuals and communities to participate in cultural life, express their cultural identities and contribute to artistic creation. The growing recognition of cultural rights was reinforced by the territorial reforms of the 2010s, notably the Law on the New Territorial Organisation of the Republic (NOTRe Law, 2015) and the Law on Freedom of Creation, Architecture and Heritage (LCAP, 2016), which explicitly incorporated cultural rights into French cultural policy frameworks.

Public policies increasingly seek to give practical effect to cultural rights by ensuring that all individuals can access, participate in and contribute to cultural life. This objective informs a wide range of cultural policies, including cultural education programmes, territorial cultural development strategies and measures aimed at reducing social, territorial and digital inequalities (see chapter 2.1 Key developments). The growing recognition of cultural rights has also encouraged more participatory approaches to cultural governance, giving greater importance to dialogue with audiences, local communities and civil society organisations.

Ethical considerations have also gained prominence in cultural policy. They concern freedom of expression, artistic freedom, cultural diversity, equitable access to cultural resources and the protection of artists and cultural professionals. France actively supports international standards safeguarding artistic freedom, particularly within UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the European Union. As a long-standing advocate of cultural diversity, France continues to promote the principles of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2025. Since 2020, several measures have been adopted to prevent sexist and sexual violence in the cultural sector and to strengthen equality and diversity policies within publicly funded cultural institutions. In 2024, women represented approximately 43% of directors of institutions labelled by the Ministry of Culture, compared with less than 30% a decade earlier. Accessibility has also become a policy priority, with more than 7,000 cultural venues and events participating annually in the European Disability Employment Week and related accessibility initiatives.

In parallel, debates on provenance research, restitution and the representation of colonial history have gained increasing visibility within museums and heritage institutions, as well as the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural goods and the responsible management of public collections. France is an active participant in the implementation of the UNESCO 1970 Convention against the illicit trafficking of cultural property and cooperates extensively with international partners on provenance research, heritage preservation and restitution procedures.

One of the most significant recent developments has been the evolution of restitution policies concerning cultural property acquired in colonial contexts. Since the publication of the Sarr-Savoy Report in 2018, France has progressively established legal and institutional mechanisms enabling the restitution of cultural artefacts and human remains through dedicated legislation and bilateral agreements. High-profile restitutions have included the return in 2021 of 26 royal treasures from the former Kingdom of Dahomey to Benin and the restitution of a historic sword attributed to El Hadj Omar Tall to Senegal.

The legal framework for restitution has subsequently expanded. The Law of 13 March 2023 on the restitution of human remains belonging to public collections established a permanent mechanism for such restitutions. In 2025, this framework was applied for the first time through the restitution of three Sakalava human remains to Madagascar. In 2026, Parliament adopted a framework law facilitating the restitution of cultural property acquired in colonial contexts, providing a structured procedure for examining and implementing future restitution requests. These developments reflect broader concerns with historical justice, transparency, provenance research and international cultural cooperation.

Digital transformation has also generated new ethical challenges related to access to culture, copyright protection, data governance, algorithmic visibility of cultural content, artificial intelligence and the preservation of digital heritage. Public authorities and cultural institutions are increasingly engaged in developing regulatory and ethical frameworks capable of addressing these issues while safeguarding cultural diversity and creators’ rights.

Overall, cultural rights and ethics have become a transversal dimension of French cultural policy, shaping both domestic cultural governance and France’s international cultural action. They increasingly influence policy design across fields such as participation, diversity, heritage, digital regulation and international cooperation.