Fundamental principles of French bioethics — Between myth and reality

French bioethics is often perceived as an ethic that gives precedence to legislative norms over flexible ethical standards. In our view, the French approach is more nuanced. Although its regulatory force is based essentially on State standards, these combine a series of principles inspired by human rights with provisions specific to each biomedical technique, the latter themselves being influenced by the practices of healthcare professionals. In addition, this legislation has a dual political aim: to ensure that citizens have access to new medical technologies, and to enhance the professional, moral and economic quality of the healthcare system, hence the need for new players (ethics committees and health agencies) to oversee this dynamic. The result is a complex system, with a multiplicity of players whose roles sometimes overlap, leading to a number of phenomena: risks of incoherence and the temptation of a State takeover, further neglecting clinical ethics and citizen participation in the development of public policy.