France, a contradictory ally of cultural diversity

France, a secular republic, had a population of 68.4 million inhabitants, out of which about 7 million immigrants (INSEE, 2023). Culture represented an added value of 45.3 billion euros ( Ministère de la Culture, 2023 ). Local authorities gave a support of 9.2 billion euros, facing a financial contribution of 3.5 billion euros by the ministry of Culture and Communication, completed by 4.2 billion euros from other ministries (Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, 2017). Before 2005, various ministries as well as local authorities contributed to set up policies supposedly reflecting the French cultural representativeness: Overseas, Foreign Affairs, Culture and National Education departments. Since 2005 onwards, cultural diversity became one of the official challenges for French policies. France external policy also turned out to be more focused on intercultural dialogue and cooperation. However, the ethnic dimension of discriminations remained insufficiently addressed.