25 Oct 2006

France’s Draft Law on the Armenian Genocide: Some Legal and Political Implications at EU Level

Senem Aydın / Florian Geyer / Sergio Carrera

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On 12 October 2006, the French General Assembly adopted a proposal for a law to penalise the denial of the existence of the Armenian genocide. While the law remains currently submerged in the French decision-making process, and will need the approval of the Senate and the final signature by the President of the Republic before its formal adoption, it has already provoked a cascade of reactions at national and EU level. This policy brief explores the political and legal implications of this Proposition de Loi at EU level. In their view, the French proposal raises a number of politically sensitive questions related to the European integration processes of enlargement, and particularly the current status of negotiations with Turkey. Further, the draft law also presents some legal transnational issues concerning the progressive establishment of a European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in the EU.