France on the Eve of the European Presidency Europe.Visions, No. 1, June 2008

The Irish “no” to the Treaty of Lisbon starkly brought the issue of relations between European construction and its citizens back to the surface. France, who said “no” to the Constitution, stood a much lower chance of rejecting the Treaty that followed it, since this time around it was ratified by a parliamentary vote. While it does take over the presidency of the European Union (EU) for the second half of 2008, is France however fundamentally reconciled with a Europe that has such a difficult time connecting with its people?