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— The new French Protection of Rights Body (le Défenseur des droits) : unity or diversity ? — Contrary to the initial plans, the new French Protection of Rights Body, le Défenseur des droits, does not incorporate all the entities working in the area of the defence of rights and freedoms. However, it does include four of them, all of which had clearly established their independence and developed their own set of actions. So their takeover is bound to give rise to complex organisational issues. The transfer of functions of these predecessor entities to the new French Protection of Rights Body amounts to a merger, raising issues of loss of identity and visibility. However, this should not necessarily result in the loss of the specificities of the predecessor entities. The merger process used for establishing the new entity will bring together diverse elements that cannot be melted down, thereby ensuring their survival.