Overview
- Macron publicly supported the symbolic abrogation on Thursday and asked the government to adopt the bill that the National Assembly will debate on May 28.
- The 'Code noir' is a set of 17th–18th century royal edicts that regulated slavery in French colonies and, though legally obsolete, remains in official texts and is treated as an offense to the Republic.
- Macron announced a joint France–Ghana international scientific project to produce concrete policy recommendations and said questions of reparations must start with recognition and will be inevitably imperfect.
- He defended France’s March abstention at the UN General Assembly on a Ghana-led resolution about slavery, saying Paris rejects ranking crimes against humanity, and he reminded listeners of a historians’ study on the indemnity imposed on Haiti due in December.
- The move deepens domestic debate, with right-wing critics warning against gestures of repentance and parts of the left pushing for material reparations, and could shift discussions toward research, education, and targeted policy proposals.