GAB welcomes this Guest Post by Sophie Lemaître, a French lawyer, anticorruption advocate, and creator of the first French-language podcast on corruption & tax evasion. Her 2025 book, Réduire au silence, documenting efforts around the world to intimidate journalists and human rights defenders, was awarded the Renaud Van Ruymbeke Prize, which recognizes works dedicated to the fight against corruption.

In November last year, the French anti-corruption Agency (Agence française anticorruption – AFA) finally published France’s Multi-Year National Plan to Fight Corruption for 2025-2029. The French anti-corruption community had long waited for it: the country had not had any anti-corruption strategy since 2022.

The 2025-2029 national plan is the second of its kind. It is 52 pages long in French (48 pages in English) organized around 4 pillars:

1. Bolstering the fight against bribery and corruption in central government departments
2. Helping local authorities to fight corruption
3. Protecting economic stakeholders against corruption
4. Combating corruption at international level

Priorities I and IV are further divided by objectives, and all four list specific measures to be taken, a total of 36 that include targeting central government, government departments, local authorities, the private sector, and France’s international actions.

The strategy reflects some of the challenges France is facing. It puts strong emphasis on the links between corruption, organized crime, and drug trafficking, the latter the focus of the central government. The plan also includes measures that have been requested for years, the creation of an interministerial committee to prevent and fight corruption, the authorization for the National Commission for Control of Electoral Accounts and Political Finance (CNCCFP) to receive financial intelligence from Tracfin, the French Financial Intelligence Unit, and the appointment of an anticorruption coordinator reporting to the general secretary in each ministry.

The strategy sets a clear direction and, at first glance, appears fit for purpose. However, it suffers from several shortcomings. Transparency International France has even published an alternative strategy with 19 measures to rise to the challenge.

Five weaknesses I have identified:

1. One thing that struck me whilst reading the strategy was how vague the 36 measures are. They are not SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, time-bound). It is also unclear who is responsible for what, when, and with what budget. There are neither indicators nor a theory of change. Consequently, how can progress, effectiveness and changes in practices be measured at the halfway point or in 2029? I was surprised that the strategy was not accompanied by an action, monitoring and control plan while there is a wealth of literature on how to design and implement national anti-corruption strategies. The first inter-ministerial committee was held in June, during which it was stated that “the methodological framework has also been clarified.” One can only hope that a detailed action plan with a dedicated budget as well as a monitoring system is part of this methodological framework.

• Civil society organizations are noticeably absent from the strategy. There is no mention of the vital role they plan, even though organizations such as Anticor, Sherpa, and Transparency International France have contributed significantly to promoting integrity, exposing corrupt practices, and advancing the legal framework over the past 20 years. The same applies to the role of journalists and the media.

• Whistleblowers are barely mentioned. Measure 13 and 14 do refer to the need to improve reporting channels and sensitize government department staff, and while the strategy asserts that it “advocates setting up specific reporting systems providing robust protection for whistleblowers”, it does not provide an answer to the current challenges: lack of psychological assistance and financial support as well as reprisals despite legal safeguards against retaliations. These issues have been documented by La Maison des lanceurs d’alerte and the Défenseur des droits. For example, in 2023, anti-corruption whistleblower Eric Le Floch was suspended from his position within the city of Menton after his alert. Despite three administrative court decisions ordering his reinstatement, as the time of this writing the city is refusing to respect the judgement.

• The strategy focuses on combating corruption linked to organized crime, which is necessary, but corruption in France is not limited to organized crime or drug trafficking. Corruption linked to town planning and public procurement is a significant problem. The strategy should have included a corruption risk assessment sector-by-sector to identify the most critical areas, otherwise there is a risk of overlooking certain practices that are harmful to society.

• The objective “To improve understanding of corruption and raise public awareness” comprises only two measures, both of which are of limited scope. Interesting initiatives such as Anticor’s ‘Tour de France against Corruption’ could have inspired AFA in proposing activities for the general public. Considering that 77% of French citizens feel corruption to be widespread in France (2026 Special Eurobarometer on Corruption) and 81% do not trust the government (2026 CEVIPOF barometer), a focus on this objective would have been welcomed.

Yes, the strategy is undoubtedly an important step forward, but its implementation must be closely monitored. At a time when some candidates in the 2027 Presidential elections are either under investigation or have been convicted of corruption-related offenses at both first instance and on appeal (though still presumed innocent pending final review by the Cour de Cassation), it is more important than ever for France to lead by example. Otherwise, there is a real risk of continued deterioration in public trust and confidence in public institutions (France has already fallen 6 places since 2022 on TI’s corruption perceptions index).