While the historic step carries immense symbolic weight, lawmakers intentionally stopped short of including concrete demands for financial reparations, sparking a renewed debate over the lingering stains of colonialism in modern French society, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
The legislation targeted by the vote is the infamous “Code noir” (Black Code), a collection of royal edicts enacted between 1685 and 1724 to regulate slavery across France’s vast colonial empire. Although France permanently abolished slavery in 1848, the horrific legal texts of the Code noir were technically never formally abrogated from the nation’s legal books.
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The bill was presented by Max Mathiasin, a centrist member of parliament representing the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.
“This proposal does not claim to erase history, nor to single-handedly heal the wounds of history,” Mathiasin told the assembly. “It aims to take a new step, to make a powerful act of remembrance, justice and recognition, by formally repealing the Code noir and all the texts that stem from it.”
All 254 parliamentarians present voted in favor of the bill, which now moves to the upper house of parliament for further debate.
If fully adopted into law, the bill will mandate a sweeping government investigation. The French government will be required to submit an official report detailing:
The long-term economic and social consequences of colonial law in French overseas territories.
The direct legacy of slavery on systemic racism and discrimination in modern French society.
The current state of how colonial history and slavery are taught in French public schools.
The battle over reparationsFrench President Emmanuel Macron threw his weight behind the repeal earlier this month, publicly stating that the ancient, discriminatory laws should never have survived into the 21st century. While Macron briefly touched on the concept of reparations in his address, he refrained from offering any concrete policies or financial commitments.
The decision to exclude financial or systemic compensation from the bill drew criticism from some Caribbean representatives. Marcellin Nadeau, a left-wing lawmaker from Martinique, chose to abstain from voting entirely, arguing that a purely symbolic gesture misses the point. “In my opinion, we must fight on the issue of reparations, which is the essential question,” Nadeau stated.
Mathiasin, however, defended the omission, explaining that he did not want to “weigh down” the proposal and risk tanking its unanimous support by attaching a deeply polarizing financial debate to it.
Historically, France was the third-largest participant in the transatlantic slave trade, trailing only England and Portugal. French ships initiated roughly 13% of all slave-trading expeditions between the 16th and 19th centuries. The country’s reluctance to engage with financial compensation was highlighted just two months ago in March, when France abstained from a UN resolution declaring slavery the “gravest crime against humanity” and calling for global reparations.
