France Moves to Ease Return of Colonial-Era Looted Artefacts

French lawmakers have approved a new bill aimed at simplifying the return of cultural artefacts taken during the colonial era to their countries of origin, in a significant step toward addressing long-standing restitution demands.

The legislation, passed unanimously late on Monday by the National Assembly, is designed to streamline the repatriation of artworks and historical objects still held in French public collections, many of which were acquired during colonial rule.

France is estimated to still possess tens of thousands of looted artworks and cultural artefacts from its former colonial territories, a legacy that has increasingly come under political and diplomatic scrutiny.

According to French Media, France24, the bill, which had earlier secured unanimous approval in the Senate in January, was backed as part of efforts to remove bureaucratic barriers that currently require individual parliamentary approval for each item slated for return.

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President Emmanuel Macron has positioned cultural restitution as a central diplomatic pledge, going further than previous French administrations in acknowledging colonial-era injustices, particularly in Africa.

Shortly after assuming office in 2017 during a visit to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, Macron pledged that France would “never again interfere in its former colonies” and promised to facilitate the return of African cultural heritage within five years.

The new legislation specifically covers property acquired between 1815 and 1972, a period marked by extensive colonial expansion and extraction.

The move comes as France continues to face a growing number of restitution requests from countries including Algeria, Mali and Benin, as former colonies intensify demands for the return of cultural assets.

In 2025, the French parliament approved the return of a “talking drum” to Ivory Coast, an artefact taken by colonial troops from the Ébrié community in 1916, which was eventually repatriated in March.

However, the restitution process has remained politically sensitive at home, with differing views emerging across France’s political spectrum.

The hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) has argued that the scope of the bill should be expanded further, while the far-right National Rally party has called for returns to be limited only to countries maintaining what it described as “cordial” relations with France.

France has in recent years introduced framework laws allowing for the return of specific categories of objects, including artworks looted from Jewish families during the Second World War and the repatriation of human remains held in public collections.