The EuropeNova Think Tank and the JDD present a new survey on national and European pride carried out by Ifop which shows that the French are proud to be French but more distant from Europe than their German and Italian neighbors. In France, “there are structural reasons which make Europe perceived as something negative”, explains Sunday, December 26 Guillaume Klossa, founder of EuropaNova and vice-president of EuropaNova Deutschland.
franceinfo: 7 out of 10 French people are proud to be Europeans, while 8 out of 10 are in Italy and Germany. How to explain this difference?
Guillaume Klossa: I believe there is a triple French exception. We see in the other European states that national pride and European pride go hand in hand and that they cross all layers of the population, which is not the case in France. The second exception is that the level of European pride among young French people is much lower than in Germany or Italy. The third is that in these countries, supporters of political parties, from left to left to moderate right, accumulate a very high level of European pride and deeper integration. This is not the case in France either.
Same difference on the question of giving more power to Europe, the French are more reserved than the Italians and the Germans, where does it come from?
I think the political system plays a major role.
“France is the only country in the 27 to have a presidential system while the others have parliamentary systems.”
Guillaume Klossa, founder of EuropaNovato franceinfo
Experience shows that the presidential system polarizes public opinion. If the president appears to be pro-European and the oppositions are strong, they will tend, structurally, to oppose Europe, because they oppose the President of the Republic.
Another lesson from this survey is Euroscepticism in youth. Europe no longer makes you dream?
It is very paradoxical because among young people, the lack of prospects is stronger in Italy than in France. But in Italy, we project ourselves as European, Europe is a resort, not in France. Several studies allow us to explain this: education in Europe, the way we talk about Europe in the media … There are structural reasons which make Europe perceived as something negative.