France

Although France occupies an average position in terms of European levels of general poverty, the rate of child poverty is above average for the EU. 'Setting ourselves the goal of significantly reducing child poverty would satisfy a social justice objective and in the longer term, the republican aim of improving equality of opportunity,' the authors of the CERC report stress.

Child poverty emerges from the research as being tightly linked to the weak employment status of the parents. According to the CERC, 'poverty in households whose members are within the age range of the active population stems less from low hourly wages … than from weak structural employment position and conditions. Therefore, child poverty is first and foremost a consequence of the parents’ employment problems.'

Child poverty particularly affects children in lone-parent families (23% of poor children are in this situation) and in families of four or more children as well as families headed by immigrants. The rate of child poverty is thus clearly higher for children whose parents are not EU nationals, standing at 25.9%. The report notes that 'if the head of family is educated to baccalauréat level, the risk of poverty [is] six times higher for immigrants from non-EU countries, than if that person is French or an EU national.'

This highly developed, diversified, and primarily market-based economy provided residents with a high standard of living. France is a constitutional democracy in which citizens elect the President and the Legislature in periodic, free, and fair elections.

The law enforcement and internal security apparatus consist of the Gendarmerie, the national police, and municipal police forces. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of the police forces committed human rights abuses.

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, although there are a few problems in some areas; the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing with cases of individual abuse. There were instances of the abuse of detainees, particularly foreigners, and reports of the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers. Long delays in bringing cases to trial and lengthy pretrial detention were problems. Societal violence against women and children were problems, which the Government took steps to address.

Anti-Semitic attacks were a problem, but have decreased in number; the Government continued to take steps to prevent and prosecute such incidents. There were instances of violence and discrimination against immigrants and religious minorities.

Trafficking in women and children has been a problem, which the Government has taken steps to address.

WHO (World Health Organization): France has the most PLWHA and the second highest estimated prevalence of HIV (after Spain), in terms of absolute numbers, in the European Union. It only started mandatory HIV case reporting in March 2003, so analysis of the French HIV epidemic over a longer period of time is not possible. From March 2003 until 31 December 2004, the authorities reported a total of 6302 new HIV cases. From the beginning of the epidemic through December 2004, they reported 59 495 AIDS cases and 34 098 AIDS deaths. Underreporting is estimated to be 15% for AIDS cases and 20% for AIDS deaths

It is estimated that 130,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS, or 0.44% of the adult population. In 2000, in France, HIV prevalence among injecting drug users rates ranged between 10% and 23%. To date, 55,000 AIDS cases have been reported. Accurate figures are unavailable for France because testing is anonymous. In September 1999 French doctors recommended to the Health Ministry that HIV diagnoses should become mandatory in order to improve surveillance.

Some of France’s current environmental current issues include some forest damage from acid rain (major forest damage occurred as a result of severe December 1999 windstorm); air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes, agricultural runoff.

France’s great productivity in agricultural and industrial products has caused complex environmental problems, stemming from the pollution of surface and groundwater resources by agricultural, domestic and industrial wastes. Water legislation reform of 1992 laid out the principles for a balanced management of water resources with the aim of keeping the needs of humans and the environment in balance. Furthermore, the WFD has already been integrated into French law. However, finding a compromise between the needs of ecosystems and other water uses continues to be a real challenge for the six basin agencies.

France has been the victim of several major oil spills that resulted in severe environmental damage to France's coastline and caused serious economic harm to France's tourism and fishing industries. In response, the French government has taken a proactive approach to preventing marine pollution by establishing an extended ecological zone into the Mediterranean Sea and imposing more stringent conditions on oil tankers.

Air pollution, especially in Paris, is still a problem, despite the adoption of measures to mitigate the effects of increased transportation and growing energy consumption from France's transportation sector. By European standards, France's development and use of renewable energy resources has been fairly limited. Market barriers thus far have stifled the use of renewables for electricity and heat production in France. Furthermore, the low cost of nuclear energy has meant that there is little economic justification to develop alternative fuel sources. Finally, there has been some opposition to nuclear power in France by environmentalists, including public protests and demonstrations.

France has a literacy of approximately 99% of the whole population. School in France is compulsory until the age of sixteen.The French educational system is highly centralised, organised, and ramified. It is divided into three stages:

1. primary education (enseignement primaire);
2. secondary education (enseignement secondaire);
3. tertiary or college education (enseignement supérieur)

Primary and secondary education is predominantly public (private schools also exist, in particular a strong nationwide network of primary and secondary Catholic education), while tertiary education has both public and private elements.

French school begins with the Pre-elementary level (ages 2 to 6), which prepares children for elementary school.

Elementary School (Ecole primaire): from 11th to 7th form (ages 6 to 11) teaches basic reading, writing and mathematical skills.

Secondary School (Ecole secondaire): from the 6th to 3d form (ages 10 to 14). It aims at helping students to master language and acquire new knowledge by developing logical thought, power of observation, and writing skills. Secondary school leads to the "Brevet des collèges", an exam based on the main disciplines taught at school and which qualifies pupils to enter high school.

High School (Lycée): three years, from 2nd to final form (ages 15-18). Continues studies established in secondary school. Second form courses are uniform for all pupils. First form courses are tailored to the student's university ambitions. The main high school specializations are: literature (L), mathematics (S), economics (ES), and management (G). High school graduation leads to the Baccalaureat diploma, a prerequisite for higher education in France.

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