Could France pair Dunkerques and carriers?

Could France have built carriers alongside Dunkerque-style battleships, and did planners define the ships' mission?

Yes, within the separate treaty allowances. France could not simply add five or six more battleships, but it could have paired two fast battleships with two carriers based on related hull and machinery ideas.

The answer separates the treaty ceiling for capital ships from the possibility of building carriers. France could not simply add five or six more 14-inch-gunned battleships, while a carrier based on similar machinery and hull principles would draw on a different allowance. Two battleships and two related carriers could therefore have formed a capable four-hull core, with the same logic later available around the Richelieu designs. The exchange reinforces the importance of defining a force's mission instead of treating every available large slip as a reason to build another battleship.