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| United Nationsmembership | |
|---|---|
| Represented by |
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| Membership | Full member |
| Since | 24 October 1945 (1945-10-24) |
| UNSC seat | Permanent |
| Permanent Representative | Jérôme Bonnafont |
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France has been a member of theUnited Nations (UN) since its foundation in 1945[1] and is one of the five countries, alongsideChina,Russia, theUnited Kingdom, and theUnited States, that holds apermanent seat on theUnited Nations Security Council (UNSC),[2] which is responsible for maintaining international peace and security.[3]
France has contributed to the organization over the years through its leadership and sponsorship of various resolutions and other majorUN bodies as well as being one of the largest-contributing states to both the general budget and to the peacekeeping operations budget.[4][5] Several French Presidents have openly spoken of their support for the UN and its aims and there are clear links between France's own policies and the values which the UN espouses, particularly concerninghuman rights.[6] In the last decade, France has called for, proposed and supported variousreforms on the UNSC and theirPeacekeeping Operations (PKO).[6] The UN, since its foundation, represents the core of France's engagement with the multilateral international system.
Despite today being one of the 'Big Five',[7] the five states who arepermanent members of theUNSC and holdveto power, France was largely left out of the planning process for the new international organisation tasked with maintaining peace post-WWII, and was only reluctantly added later after most of the planning was done.[8]
The term "United Nations" was first used much earlier than the official 1945 start of the international organization in the1942 'Declaration of the United Nations', a 26-nation conference (not includingFrance which was under Nazi occupation and thus not legally a government)[8] where governments pledged to continue their fight during WWII against theAxis powers.[9] In a series of conferences and forums over the next few years, mainly behind closed doors, the then 'Big Three'Allied powers of WWII, (the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union)[8] began drafting plans for an international organization to maintain international peace, building off the mistakes of the earlierLeague of Nations. There are several reasons why France was excluded from talks at this stage, the main being that thecollapse of France almost overnight in 1940, from which it was still in tatters until at least 1944 (although the effects were felt for much longer), destroyed its great power image.[9] Itsdecisive defeat by the German army made it difficult to deny that France was simply no longer the political and military power it had once been. This, along withFrance's relatively limited contribution to the war effort thus far, meant that at least in the eyes of the 'Big Three', France no longer deserved a place at the top table of the new international organization.[9] Furthermore,Roosevelt, the then-leader of the US, along with other high-ranking officials, was suspicious ofCharles de Gaulle, the self-proclaimed leader of theFree French and thus hesitant to collaborate with him due to hisNapoleonic traits.[8] France was hurt and humiliated by this exclusion especially considering its important role in establishing the League of Nations after WWI.[8] Whilst France was not invited to forums such asDumbarton Oaks Conference[10] in 1944 (where the US, UK, USSR, and China deliberated over proposals for the functioning of what was to become the UN to present to the other 26 nations), and never formally consulted, they were nonetheless aware such planning was taking place.[8] British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill urged American PresidentFranklin Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major power after the liberation of Paris in August 1944.
Following much negotiation, once France had established and legitimized a new government (theProvisional Government of the French Republic or PGFR, later ceded in 1946 by theFourth Republic), it was reluctantly granted a permanent spot on the UNSC in the future international organization by weight of its "traditions, ideals and importance"[8] albeit after all-important planning steps had already been negotiated and finalized without its contribution.
However, while France was fairly limited in its contributions to the UN directly during the planning and negotiations, France has for centuries been a key contributor and influencer ofliberal ideas and thinking[11] wherein lies the concept of international organisations. Further, the US knew that in order to avoid the ill-fate of theLeague of Nations, the UN would need effectivesanction powers, an idea pushed by France in 1919 during the establishment of theLeague but which had been rejected by the otherAllied powers.[8]
As a charter member of the United Nations and one of the fivepermanent members of theSecurity Council, France plays an active and integral role in many areas of UN activity. Further,French is one of the two working languages of the UN Secretariat, the other beingEnglish.[12]
As part of the Security Council, France is heavily involved in influencing the debate on various issues threatening international peace and security and drafting various documents, such asresolutions, adopted by the Security Council.[13] In its role at the UNSC and maintaining peace and security, France plays a key role in disarmament in particular,[14] working to advance various treaties and enforcenon-proliferation. France’s permanent seat on the UNSC also grants itveto power which it has used and threatened to use several times since the foundation of the International organization to show its disagreement on various resolutions, though notably much less than the other veto-power-holding states (see:France–Iraq relations § Ba'athist Iraq).
France has used itsveto power sparingly, vetoing 18 resolutions from 1949 to 2007, compared with 82 by theUnited States and 123 by theSoviet Union andRussia, 32 byBritain, and 6 byChina.[15] France used itsveto power along withthe United Kingdom, to veto a resolution to resolve theSuez Crisis in 1956. France also used a veto in 1976 on the question of theComoros independence, when the island ofMayotte was kept in French territory due to the vote of the local population. In 2002, France threatened to vetoResolution 1441 on the then-upcoming 2003Iraq war.
List of all French vetoes[16]
France is also a significant financial contributor to UN activities. Regarding the UN’s 'general budget' which finances personnel, investment, the Secretariat, and other UN field offices, France’s 2019 contribution was 123 million dollars ($USD), a 4.43% share making it the 6th highest contributor.[17] The other mandatory contribution for UN member states to undertake is to the Peacekeeping Operations budget. Along with the other permanent member of the UN Security Council, France is required to take on a more significant share of financial contributions due to their increased involvement in peacekeeping. In the 2019 Peacekeeping operations budget, France was the 6th highest contributor,[18] accounting for a 5.61% share or 381 million dollars ($USD).[19] In addition to these, France also makes voluntary contributions which can be made at the discretion of each member state to UN funds and programs of which they are particularly supportive.[20]
France has aPermanent Mission to the UN set up in New York. Their main role lies in the research, preparation, and negotiation of texts, such as Security Council resolutions, which are then debated over and adopted by various UN bodies. The Mission is headed by thePermanent Representative of France to the United Nations who sits on the Security Council, within the General Assembly and all the other bodies where France is represented at the UN, speaking on behalf of France and defending the nation's position and foreign policy at these forums.
The current Permanent Representative of France to the UN isJérôme Bonnafont who succeededNicolas de Rivière and took office as ambassador on 17 March 2025.[21][22]
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One issue France is extremely active in within the UN is environmental justice and climate change. France hosted the2015 UN Paris Climate Conference or COP21[23][24] and played a driving role in developing and enacting theParis Climate Agreement. Beyond specifically climate change, France is also leading the fight for international environmental law, working with experts from 40 countries from around the world in different stages of development and presenting the “Global Pact for the Environment” to the UN.[25] A resolution was adopted by the General Assembly on 10 May 2018.[26]
Human rights are a key focus of the UN and are one of the fundamental principles of the French Republic as a nation and society as well as in its foreign policy. The UN’sUniversal Declaration of Human Rights passed in 1948 is partially inspired by France’s ownDéclaration des droits de l’Homme et du citoyen from 1789 and many parallels can be drawn between the two.[27] France works with the UN to advocate “the universal and indissociable nature of human rights”.[28] It has consistently played a leading role in this area through its roles on the Human Rights Council (see:§ French Candidature for the Human Rights Council 2021-2023) and the Security Council. Some UN human rights focus areas France is deeply engaged in are promoting women’s rights, protecting journalists and freedom of the press, combating impunity, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, universal abolition of the death penalty, and fighting against child soldier recruitment.[29]
France and the United Nations share a long-standing commitment to universalhuman rights. TheHuman Rights Council (UNHRC) is a body within the UN made up of 47 states which are responsible for advocating and defending human rights throughout the world.[30] The 47 member states are elected for three-year terms by theUN General Assembly and seats are distributed based on equitable geographical distribution.[31] Since the UNHRC was founded in 2006, France has been a member three times (2006–2008, 2009–2011, 2014–2016)[32] and plays an active role in UNHCR missions even when it is not a member.[33] France is determined to promotehumanist diplomacy in response to new 21st century threats and violations it sees to universal human rights.[34] As such, on 22 February 2020, France Diplomacy announced its candidacy to the Human Rights Council for the 2021–2023 term onTwitter.[35] Four days later, on 26 February,Jean-Yves Le Drian, theFrench Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, presented France's candidacy for the council at the opening of its 43rd session in Geneva:[36]
"Institutions and the very principle ofmultilateralism are exposed to unprecedented attempts at destabilization. France won't resign itself to seeing fundamental rights flouted, democracy weakened, or multilateralism dismantled. On the contrary, we'll continue to defend human rights by every means and in every forum where our voice can be heard. This is why France is putting forward its candidacy for the Human Rights Council for the 2021-2023 term." – Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.[36]
France's 2021–2023 candidacy has three key priorities to guide its actions which fall in line with UN values:
UNHRC supposed to only accept members who are truly committed to human rights and are not abusing human rights themselves. With other candidates likeRussia,Cuba andSaudi Arabia applying, which areauthoritarian to varying degrees and do not hold high standards of in the promotion of human rights themselves in their domestic and foreign policies, it is likely France will be elected over such countries.[37] Though France is not immune of rights abuse concerns from the UN, such as over their counter-terrorism laws,[38] according to the UNHRC, it remains one of the countries most committed to universal human rights.[39]
France has been a key stakeholder in recent calls forUN reform to make the organization more efficient and more representative of the currentworld order which has changed immensely since the end of WWII when UN structures were established.[14]Multilateralism is now under the threat of power politics and France has been vocal about the need to fix this through reform of the UN. There are 3 main areas of reform France has proposed or supported over the last decade.[40]
In recent years, there have been calls, primarily from Germany, for France to give up its seat as apermanent member of the UNSC and be replaced with anEU seat (veto power included). Germany’s argument is that having a permanent EU seat on the Security Council would enable the European bloc to speak with one, the united voice at the international platform.[42]Article 34 of the Treaty on the European Union states that member states must uphold the position of the Union at any international organizations, conferences or forums of the like in their actions,[43] hence, Germany argues that if France truly was committed to the EU, this spot and the associated veto power should be Europeanised.[44] These calls follow concerns for the future of Europe on the global stage followingBrexit, which leaves Europe with just one seat on the council.[41] The position of France, as well as other policy analysts in the EU, is that if Germany’s objective is truly to better represent Europe’s position on the global stage as they claim,[42] this merged EU seat would be counterproductive. Instead, just as France has been advocating for (see:§ UN Reform) the addition of more permanent seats on the UNSC held by European countries would mean more collective voting power and input in important UN resolutions and debate.[44] Given that France is the diplomatic power of the EU whilst Germany represents the economic capital of the EU – together they counter-balance each other. Such a Europeanisation of France’s diplomatic strength in holding this UNSC seat could offset this balance into the hands of Germany and throw off this Franco-German equilibrium which is at the core ofEuropean integration and peace.[44] Thus, it is unlikely that France will cede its UNSC seat and veto power to the EU or that the UN will allow this, however it is plausible that France will continue to push for UN reform for Germany and the otherG4 countries to join the ‘Big Five’[7] and becomepermanent, veto-power holding, members of the UNSC.[41]
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