Abstract
French presence and influence in the twenty–first century European Union do not go unchallenged, and France is no longer the biggest of the founder EU member states. Accustomed to exerting power in the EU by means of political leadership, the use of the French language, and early influence over the EU’s administrative and legal architecture, France in 2005 sees the impact of its ideas diluted by numbers and by the import of new ideas, generations and cultures as the EU expands. President Chirac has gone some way to reverse the decline in French fortunes, principally through better Franco–German cooperation; and other voices in France have suggested how France might improve the quality of its EU presence. By voting ‘no’ to the Constitutional Treaty, France has shown itself big enough to hold the EU’s future to ransom, but lacking the influence to shape this future in its own image.
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