France Discredited in Brussels?

France, mired in economic crisis for more than five years, faces a deficit that is higher than 4% of GDP, thus preventing it from meeting the economic convergence criteria of the European Union. The situation of special dispensation it has been in for several years now, combined with a loss of influence within European institutions, puts the country in an increasingly awkward position in the EU. As Jean-François Drevet shows in this article, France has lost many of the assets it derived from being a founder member, which once played their part in establishing its political influence in Europe. Having gradually distanced itself from Germany and riding roughshod over treaties it has signed and ratified, it is currently losing political credit with its European partners, particularly in a Union that now has 28 members. As this column suggests, this situation is probably not irreversible but, to recover its credit within the Union, France will have to move to rebuild constructive relations with Germany and to exploit its substantial influence in terms of defence and security, a field in which the EU can no longer afford to sit on the side lines.