ABSTRACT

This scholarly work examines how key actors within French politics and society have related to the challenges and opportunities posed by the European Union, and how these relations have driven or hindered change in France.

The collection invites the reader to explore below the surface image of a France troubled by its relations with the EU in the post-Cold War era, and see the dynamics of change in empirical detail. Each chapter offers insights into specific aspects of the France-EU relationship, including:

  • the characteristics of Euroscepticism à la française amongst the electorate and political parties
  • the dynamics of change in the political, media and legal establishments in their dealings with the EU
  • the priorities for labour, business and la vie associative in their relations with French decision-makers regarding the EU.

chapter |22 pages

Maastricht, Amsterdam and beyond

The troubled evolution of the French right

chapter |19 pages

The Conseil d'État and Europe

Adapting the French administrative state

chapter |19 pages

Protection, reform and political will

France and the European social model

chapter |22 pages

The French press and the European Union

The challenge of Community news

chapter |18 pages

La vie associative and the state

Unequal partners in the French debate on Europe

chapter |11 pages

Towards a new French strategy for Europe?

Concluding remarks 1