French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the law recognizing slavery as a crime against humanity, May 21, 2026 -

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France

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday for his country to address the question of reparations for slavery.

His appeal came at a ceremony in Paris commemorating the 25th anniversary of the so-called Taubira law that recognises the slave trade as a crime against humanity.

On May 21, 2001, this landmark legislation, unanimously adopted by parliament, made France the first country in the world to officially recognise the transatlantic slave trade and colonial slavery as crimes against humanity.

In a speech on the legacy of slavery, Macron said "we must have the honesty to say we can never repair this crime" but the question of how to repair "must not be refused." Equally, he said, "it's a question on which we much not make false promises."

Macron also announced that the so-called Code Noir - 17th and 18th century decrees that regulated the slave trade in French colonies - will be explicitly removed from French law.

France was responsible for about 11 percent of all transatlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries, shipping more than 1.3 million Africans to its colonies in the Americas.

France abolished slavery in 1848 and the government has acknowledged the historic wrong of slavery in its former colonies. However, it has so far resisted calls for reparations.

Macron urges France to resolve slavery compensation issue

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