France, like other European countries, exhibits significant social inequalities in terms of mortality and health. The most educated, the most highly skilled occupational groups, and the wealthiest households enjoy longer life expectancies and are in better health. The consistent findings across studies in EU countries and the ongoing efforts to measure, understand, and reduce social disparities have shifted concerns and questions in this area from the national to the European level. European studies aim to minimize comparison issues related to sources and data, thereby facilitating the interpretation of differences between countries. This overview of European comparative studies on social inequalities in health and mortality shows that across all European countries, the same diseases contribute to inequalities in the risk of death (cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diseases of the digestive and respiratory systems) or in the risk of poor health (cardiovascular diseases, nervous system diseases, osteoarthritis, and diabetes). Social differences regarding disability and perceived poor health are also found throughout Europe. Various risk factors and determinants of these social inequalities are common across European countries but may be more or less pronounced, explaining certain regional variations in the magnitude of disparities across the European Union. Furthermore, comparative studies demonstrate the impact of access to and use of healthcare, as well as health policies, on social health inequalities. This research contributes to the accumulation of knowledge that may lead in the coming years to changes in health and social policies aimed at reducing these inequalities. (R.A.)