French Senate passes cultural property restitution bill

PARIS -- The French Senate on Thursday approved a draft law on the restitution of cultural property acquired through illicit appropriation, following a new round of debate,

The upper house of parliament passed the bill with 343 votes in favor and none against, after the revised draft law had already been approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday with 141 votes in favor and none against.

The bill seeks to establish a clearer and simpler legal framework for returning cultural assets acquired by France through illicit means, including looting, theft and sales conducted under coercion. It applies to cultural property acquired between 1815 and 1972, excluding military items and certain archaeological objects.

Under France's longstanding principle of the inalienability of public collections, cultural objects could previously be returned to their countries of origin only through specific legislation on a case-by-case basis and in limited numbers.

The French Senate first passed the draft law on Jan 29, and the National Assembly approved a slightly different version on April 13 with 170 votes in favor and none against. As differences remained between the two versions, a joint committee composed of seven deputies and seven senators worked to reconcile the differing provisions and submitted a compromise text on April 30.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu welcomed the draft law on social media platform X on Wednesday, saying that "this law is not intended to rewrite history, but allows us to take responsibility for returning improperly acquired cultural property."