This contribution from France is based on recently-published documents and in particular on the "Report on the Public Infancy Service for Early Childhood," published in February 2007 by a department of the Prime Minister's Office, the Centre of Strategic Analysis, Social Affairs Section and "Early Childhood Education and Care, a Report issued prior to a visit by experts to France. Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) from birth until entry into nursery school ("ecole maternelle"), at 2 or 3 years old, is varied and has experienced considerable growth; its availability is, however, inconsistent and unequally distributed throughout the territory. From the age of 3, children are all cared for in nursery classes in public or private schools under the supervision of the Ministry responsible for National Education. The aim of this document is to describe this system and the measures taken to reduce social and cultural inequalities within. This paper contains the following parts: (1) General approaches of ECEC and definitions of the term "at risk" (2) Access to early childhood education and care; (3) Quality of early childhood education and care; (4) Funding; (5) Transition to compulsory education; and (6) Statistics. Shared responsibilities and broadly decentralised provision of ECEC in France are appended. A bibliography is included. (Contains 3 tables and 1 footnote.) [For the complete report, see ED539138.]