France

Nuclear-armed state

Possesses 290 nuclear weapons

Has not yet joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

Status

France has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

National position

France has consistently voted against an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that welcomes the adoption of the TPNW and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”.

Along with other nuclear-armed states, France has said that it does “not accept any claim that [the TPNW] contributes to the development of customary international law”. It has called on all states that are considering supporting the the TPNW “to reflect seriously on its implications for international peace and security”.

In 2022, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, issued a joint statement with his US counterpart, Joe Biden, in which they reaffirmed their opposition to the TPNW, arguing that it does not “reflect the increasingly challenging international security environment and is at odds with the existing non-proliferation and disarmament architecture”.

In 2024, France argued that it “the TPNW is neither complementary to nor compatible with” the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, and it does not constitute an “effective measure” as required by Article VI of that treaty. “Nuclear disarmament, to be realistic and credible, cannot ignore the strategic context in which we operate,” it said.

France has actively discouraged other states from joining the TPNW, including Australia and African states that were once under its colonial rule.

Political developments

In 2023, the assembly of French Polynesia adopted with unanimous support a resolution urging France to join the TPNW. Ma’ohi Nui, or French Polynesia, was the site of 193 nuclear test explosions between 1966 and 1996, which have had devastating humanitarian and environmental consequences.

At the French national assembly in 2022, a cross-party group of parliamentarians launched an inter-parliamentary circle “to initiate reflection on military nuclear issues and in particular on the TPNW”. It was the first initiative of its kind in a nuclear-armed state.

Ahead of the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022, 56 French parliamentarians called for France’s attendance as an observer. By isolating itself from this dialogue, France would only weaken its denunciation of Russia’s nuclear posturing, they argued.

A group of 69 parliamentarians made a similar appeal ahead of the second meeting of states parties in 2023. “Faced with a global situation where the nuclear risk is increasing, it is necessary to rise to the height of the risk,” they wrote. “It is urgent to restore France to its progressive role.”

In 2018, the foreign affairs committee of the French national assembly recommended that the government “mitigate its criticism” of the TPNW “to show that we understand and take into account the concerns of states and their desire for more balanced global governance”.

The assembly of French Polynesia adopts a resolution in 2023 urging France to join the TPNW.

A message projected onto the UN headquarters in New York in 2022 calls on France to join the TPNW. Photo: ICAN

Nuclear-weapon programme

France possesses approximately 290 nuclear weapons, which it can launch from submarines or missiles dropped from aircraft. Its submarines are based at the Île Longue peninsula, south of Brest in the Brittany region of France.

In 2024, France spent an estimated US$6.9 billion to build and maintain its nuclear forces.

Between 1960 and 1996, France conducted a total of 210 nuclear tests in Algeria and French Polynesia.

Public opinion

A public opinion poll conducted by IFOP in 2018 found that 67 per cent of French people believe that their government should sign the TPNW, with 33 per cent opposed to signing.

Dozens of French cities, including Paris, Lyon, and Marseille, have called on the French government to sign and ratify the TPNW.

ICAN campaigners, including many university students, gather in Paris in 2020 for a forum on the TPNW. Photo: ICAN

French campaigners pose in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2018 with the Nobel peace prize medal awarded to ICAN. Photo: ICAN

TPNW negotiations

France did not participate in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and thus did not vote on its adoption. On the opening day of the negotiating conference, it joined the United States and several other states in protesting the treaty-making process.

In 2016, France voted against the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

It actively discouraged other states, in particular its former colonies in Africa, from supporting the resolution.

The late Tahitian activist Roland Oldham speaks at a side event during the TPNW negotiations in 2017 about the harm caused by French nuclear testing. Photo: ICAN

ICAN campaigners criticise the decision of nuclear-armed states, including France, to boycott the TPNW negotiations in 2017. Photo: ICAN

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

France

Nuclear-armed state

Possesses 290 nuclear weapons

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

National position

Political developments

Nuclear-weapon programme

Public opinion

TPNW negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

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