Paris, 26 March 2026. The decision taken by France marks the end of an anomalous and unjust situation with colonial undertones. On 19 March 2026, in an official communication addressed to the Council of Europe, France declared that the scope of the European Social Charter would be extended to what are referred to as "overseas" territories. As of 1 May 2026, the inhabitants of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Mayotte, La Réunion, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Pierre-et-Miquelon will benefit from the rights enshrined in the European Social Charter. The Charter guarantees social rights essential to a dignified life, such as housing, healthcare, and work. The organisations working towards this change hailed it as a victory for civil society, which has been actively engaged in local, national and international spheres.
Nathalie Tehio, president of the LDH, hailed the victory, "After 50 years of exclusion, the European Social Charter finally applies to the ’overseas’ territories, thereby putting an end to an injustice affecting more than two million inhabitants, we are hoping that it will eventually also apply to New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna".
Elena Crespi, Director of the FIDH’s European Desk added: "France has finally recognized full equality of rights for the populations of its ’overseas’ territories and the population of continental France, by repealing a clause that was part of a colonial legacy. The FIDH urges the other Member States of the Council of Europe that have ratified the European Social Charter and also have ’overseas’ territories to also make the same unconditional declaration. This territorial exception is unjustifiable under international and European law and must be surmounted."
Filing of a collective complaint
On 18 March 2024, the FIDH and its member organisations Kimbé Rèd F.W.I. and the LDH, lodged a rcollective complaint with the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) against France, for violations of the Revised European Social Charter relating to the lack of access to drinking water in Guadeloupe and chlordecone poisoning in the French West Indies.
In a decision on 19 March 2025 the ECSR declared the complaint inadmissible, thereby refusing to proceed to the examination of the merits of the complaint. The reasons given by the ESCR were, specifically, territorial exclusion as provided for in Article L§2 of the Charter and the fact that France had not made any declaration regarding its intention to extend the application of the Charter to its overseas territories at the time of the decision.
The FIDH, Kimbé Rèd F.W.I. and the LDH, with the support of the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (CNCDH), had nevertheless urged the French authorities to make such a declaration as quickly as possible. In doing so, they called on France to comply with their constitutional and international obligations, particularly regarding non-discrimination.
Sabrina Cajoly, Founder and Executive Director of Kimbé Rèd F.W.I., explained that: "With this declaration, more than two million people previously deprived of an effective remedy will be able to assert their rights before the European Committee of Social Rights, which is crucial in a context where these populations are disproportionately affected by violations of rights protected by the revised European Social Charter."
FIDH and its members the LDH and Kimbé Rèd F.W.I. will continue their efforts by bringing cases before the relevant national and European authorities until justice is secured for the affected populations.