The step taken by France to return stolen works of art from former colonies, ahead of Macron's tour of Africa. “A Historic Moment”
The French parliament on Thursday passed legislation that makes it easier to return artworks looted during the colonial era to their countries of origin. The vote took place just two days before President Emmanuel Macron embarked on a new tour of Africa, notes AFP.
France still owns tens of thousands of works of art and other artifacts it stole from its colonial empire.
On Wednesday, the legislation received the green light in the lower house of the French parliament, and on Thursday it also passed the upper house. Thus, the legislature in Paris paved the way for the fulfillment of a promise that Macron had made to young Africans during a speech in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, in 2017.
“This is a historic moment,” Culture Minister Catherine Pegard said, praising France's decision to “turn a new page” in its history.
Centrist senator Catherine Morin-Desailly, who supported the bill, said it “opens a path where memory is no longer confiscated but shared, where the wounds of history become the foundations of a renewed dialogue between nations.”
Macron's promise when he became president
Speaking in Ouagadougou shortly after taking office in 2017, Macron promised that France would stop meddling in its former colonies, as well as facilitate the return of African cultural heritage within five years.
Former colonial powers in Europe have been slow to return some works of art obtained during their imperial conquests, but French law required individual votes for each item in the national collection.
The new bill allows the government to return works of art without having to resort to passing specific laws. It specifically covers assets acquired between 1815 and 1972.
France has been inundated with requests for extradition, including from Algeria, Mali and Benin, and once the legislation is passed it is believed that requests will multiply.
In 2025, the French parliament approved the return of a “talking drum” to Ivory Coast, which colonial troops had taken from the Ebrie tribe in 1916. The drum arrived in the African country in March.
