Mercenarism (the state of an individual participating in an armed conflict on the side of a foreign state which that person is not originally from for monetary reward) is illegal in France under Law 2003-340 of April 14, 2003. The Criminal Code (Article 436-1) provides punishment of up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros. Creating and/or running an organisation which recruits, hires, equips or provides military training to mercenaries is punishable by imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of 100,000 euros.

However, the law allows private commercial activities of “companies which provide security and defence services” that are recognised by official Paris and the governments of other countries. Formally, they must not be directly involved in hostilities, but assist in providing security, training, logistics and risk analysis. Numerous debates in the parliament have failed to determine a clearer legal framework for this business.

In particular, Parliamentary Report 142 of January 23, 2003, which was drafted as part of the work on Law 2003-340, stated that assistance and advice provided to foreign armed forces should not be equated with mercenarism. In February 2012, the National Assembly’s Defence Commission advised providing legislative support for the French PMCs’ activities. The General Secretariat for Defence and National Security of France has adopted a similar position.

The French government is not publicising the use of its PMCs around the world. In the case of a leak, they usually say the issue is about commercial activities of a private company under contract with the government of a foreign country. Official Paris denies the fact that the French Defence Ministry uses the services of PMCs.

Most recently, France's PMCs have faced growing competition. This sector is plagued by high turnover rates with valuable employees departing for British or American companies offering better pay.

With the ongoing developments in Ukraine, French PMCs offer their services to train Ukrainian forces in Eastern European countries. Since June 2022, they have been bringing onboard volunteers to participate in hostilities on Kiev’s side. Former members of the armed forces of EU countries and nationals of African countries are their first choice. French nationals taking part in the hostilities in Ukraine often get there via foreign PMCs or the Ukrainian International Legion.

Under French law, most of them do not fall under the Criminal Code article on mercenarism, because their remuneration for taking part in combat operations does not exceed the salary paid under a corresponding position in the French armed forces. Ukrainians that go to Ukraine from France in order to participate in the conflict, including the ones who are “on leave” from the French Foreign Legion are not qualified as mercenaries even if they hold French citizenship, since the people who are originally from a country participating in an armed conflict cannot be considered as such.

Military support functions are often delegated to “expendable” PMCs which recruit low-level personnel on the ground. A similar arrangement is used in Ukraine as well. Former French Foreign Legion members hailing from the countries in question often act as instructors. Ample supply of personnel from the ranks of former legionnaires makes it simple to create and use expendable PMCs for missions where use of force and/or participation in hostilities is likely.

About 100 French PMCs operate internationally. They are usually headed by former gendarmerie officers, and sometimes by retired security service officers. Mostly, these firms are mission-specific outfits and are put together for limited periods (for example, Lyon-based Byblos provided evacuation of French citizens from combat zones early on during the special military operation in Ukraine).

The most prominent French PMCs are as follows:

Aeneas Groupe, founded in 2004, provides consulting, security, and defence services, and trains personnel in France and abroad.

Anticip performs a variety of missions in war zones, such as crisis management, physical protection, armed escort, and site protection. It has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and has subsidiaries in Nigeria and the UAE.

Chiron participates in the training of Ukrainian special forces. The instructors are former military members and French special service employees.

Défense Conseil International (DCI) is one of the leading companies of that kind and is unofficially used by the French Defence Ministry to perform a wide range of missions in the interests of friendly countries where, for some reasons, the use the French Armed Forces is impractical. It operates through 23 training centres in France and branches in 50 countries, such as Brunei, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Qatar, and the UAE, to name a few. It provides combat training for ground, air and naval forces, special forces, advanced training in cybersecurity and radio electronic warfare, as well as interaction between different branches of the military. DCI operates through six subsidiary PMCs, the most famous of which - La Cofras - was hired by international organisations for demining in the Gulf area, Angola and Mozambique.

Gallice Défense is a group based in France, Europe and Africa that was founded in 2007. Its employees work under short-term contracts in the Sahel, LAC, Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Geos was founded in 1998 by Stephane Gerardin, a former employee of the Main Directorate of Foreign Security (foreign intelligence), to address specific tasks abroad. It is staffed mostly by former employees of special services, the Defence Ministry and the Interior Ministry. It specialises in providing government customers with consulting services, economic intelligence, risk assessment-based analytical materials for major projects in various regions of the world, but also offers physical security and protection services. Operating in 80-plus countries, Geos has offices in Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Ukraine and Venezuela,. The company is actively involved in training AFU personnel. Since June 2022, it has been recruiting volunteers to participate in combat operations on Kiev’s side. In total, at least 2,000 people have been recruited. The European Peace Foundation provides the funding. Candidates are trained in Eastern Europe.

Groupe Corpguard was founded in 2006. In 2016, it concluded a contract with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire as part of the operation to maintain peace and stability in the country.

Salamandre was founded in 1996. It brings together intelligence, counterintelligence and nuclear specialists. It has close ties with the French Directorate General for External Security and often acts on its behalf.

KBS Sécurité was founded in Lyon in 2007 as a company specialising in arms and military equipment sales.

Currently, it offers security services and operates in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.