German Policy Studies/Politikfeldanalyse, 1(2), 2000: pp. 189-208. THE THIRD SECTOR IN FRANCE Edith Archambault Laboratoire d'Economie Sociale, University of Paris-Sorbonne Abstract In France, like in other Western European countries, the third sector has been on a steady increase during the last decades. Similar to the situation in Germany, the French Third Sector is predominately financed by public money that is concentrated on those subsections which form the core of the welfare state: education, health and social services. However, public funding is currently being reduced and against this background, government and nonprofit-organizations are looking for new ways of cooperation. In other words, in France the partnership of the Third Sector with government is changing as well as its position and role in the French welfare mix. Introduction In the following the results of the Johns Hopkins Nonprofit Sector Comparative Project for France will be presented, thus outlin- ing: • the overall size of the Third Sector in France in 1995, • its composition, • its revenue sources, and • its recent evolution. Thereafter, the Third Sector´s central role in labour market policies will be discussed. In France, many new jobs, new markets and new skills have initially been explored by volunteer work. Com- bined with a trend towards professionalisation this knowledge served as a blueprint for paid labour. Moreover, the changing role of the nonprofit organizations as partners in a new welfare mix will be analysed. The recent Assises de la Vie Associative - a major event which gathered in February 1999 more than 2,500 nonprofit leaders,