In reality French citizens or residents of foreign origin are often subjected to racism and discrimination, which in part led to the riots that broke out in 2005 in high-immigrant suburbs across the country.
Sarkozy has argued that the lack of statistics on France's ethnic groups frustrates attempts to measure and deal with inequality.
The new report comes amid a debate on national identity that has divided France.
Critics argue that it is fomenting anti-foreigner and anti-Muslim sentiment and is little more than a ploy by the rightwinger Sarkozy to grab far-right votes in regional elections to be held next month.
The government is due to hold a seminar next Monday to consider its conclusions from the national identity debate.
Source-AFP
THK