Only 27 per cent of French people believe that the European Union is advantageous to France, polls suggest.
Europhile French president Emmanuel Macron is faced with new Frexit — French exit from the EU — concerns after a poll conducted by French financial newspaper Les Echos showed that only 27 per cent of French people believed that the European Union was more advantageous than disadvantageous to France.
Overall, 72 per cent of those surveyed had either a negative or neutral view of the bloc, with only a little over a quarter vocally supporting the EU.
The 1,000 people surveyed on the 4th-5th of January 2022 were largely divided into three groups with 33 per cent of French people saying that the disadvantages of France’s EU membership outweigh the advantages, 39 per cent of saying that Europe brings as many advantages as disadvantages, and just 27 per cent saying that the advantages are greater than the disadvantages.
All of those surveyed were aged over 18 and Les Echos claims they were representative of the entire French population.
The respondents were also almost divided in two when it came to thoughts on the status of the euro, the European Union’s single currency, in France. 50 per cent of those polled believe that the single currency is detrimental to France’s economy, whereas 49 per cent believe the euro is beneficial to their economy.
Les Echos’ poll is somewhat embarrassing for Macron in light of France having just been appointed to the rotating presidency of the EU Council, which they will hold for the next six months.
The poll also comes in the context of France’s recent Arc de Triomphe flag fiasco.
The Arc de Triomphe, a monument in Paris which is dedicated to the French soldiers who died in the Napoleonic and French Revolutionary Wars, had its French flag replaced by the EU’s gold star flag on New Year’s Eve, supposedly to celebrate France’s appointment to the EU presidency — prompting outrage from Macron’s political opponents.
Presidential candidate for the centre-right French Republican party Valérie Pécresse tweeted out: “Presiding over Europe yes, erasing French identity no! I solemnly ask Emmanuel Macron to restore our tricolor flag next to that of Europe under the Arc de Triomphe. We owe it to all our fighters who shed their blood for him.”.
The EU flag was removed on Sunday the 2nd of January, which prompted cheers from critics, with the eader of the right-populist National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, tweeting out: “A great patriotic victory at the dawn of 2022! The government was forced to remove the flag of the European Union from the Arc de Triomphe. Thank you to the massive mobilisation of all lovers of France and the Republic to roll back Emmanuel Macron.”
However, an official from the President’s office denied that the EU flag was taken down due to political pressure and instead said it was removed “in line with the planned schedule”, insisting that it was only supposed to be at the Arc for two days.