Chernega Vladimir Nikolaevich – Sc.D. in Law, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy, Chief Researcher, INION RAS
With regard to European integration, France’s paradox is that, on the one hand, this country stood at the origins of the very idea of integration and is still considered one of its driving forces; on the other hand, in France, the heated contest over the question of the forms and goals of the integration process has not ceased and continues. The founder and first president of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle, generally viewed the EEC only as a union of sovereign states («union of nations»), and his position was supported by the Gaullist party, which was his stronghold in parliament. At the same time, other forces (particularly the Socialists, the right-liberal Republican Party and its successors) have consistently advocated strengthening the supranational institutions of the EEC, which was transformed into the EU in 1992. Gradually, the Gaullist party also moved away from the idea of creating a «union of nations», merged with the successors of the Republican Party, and ultimately moved closer to the «Europeanists», personified since 2017 by President Emmanuel Macron, who promotes the idea of transforming the EU into a «European power». Meanwhile, on the right flank of the French political spectrum, the National Front party (since 2018, the National Rally) has strengthened its position. Initially, it demanded France’s exit from the EU, but now advocates for France to retain maximum sovereignty within the union. According to forecasts, the current leader of the National Rally, J. Bardella, has a chance of winning the presidential elections in 2027. If this happens, the EU’s progress towards a «European power» will most likely be called into question.
European integration, «European power», positions of the parties, evolution of the heirs of Gaullism, Emmanuel Macron’s «Europeanism», sovereignty, National Rally.
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