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In French public law the equality principle and positive discrimination are fundamentally opposed. As a basic element of the French legal system, the equality principle postulates the absence of disadvantaged groups, unless it is acknowledging a failure of the system. However the confrontation between the ideal and the reality leads to the taking into account of objective differences that make it necessary to legally identify legitimate and necessary differentiations. A qualitative change occurs when equality becomes a demand: the equality principle is then combined with an equality objective.