Two weeks before the European elections, the EU is often described as the source of many evils. However, it is important to demystify its functioning and its impact on the 27 member countries.
Arguments already raised during the last European elections in 2019. While Europeans will once again be called at the polls on Sunday June 9, many elected officials criticize the European Union for contributing to inflation, producing unfair competition or even imposing too many standards in France. So, are these criticisms justified? Franceinfo scrutinized six statements about the European Union.
1 The euro has increased prices in France: false
This idea is very widespread among the French. During the changeover to the euro on January 1, 2002, traders took advantage of it to increase prices. However, this is not what the figures show. Inflation remained rather stable in the early 2000s. According to INSEE, from 2002 to 2016, prices increased by an average of 1.4% per year, compared to 2.1% between 1986 and 2001. The general increase was therefore lower in France after the changeover to the euro. At the time, the European Commission and national authorities had put in place policies to prevent a potential increase in prices: for example, many 1 and 2 cent coins had been put into circulation to prevent traders from rounding prices up to the higher euro.
But then, why did the French feel an increase in prices? This is explained by the increase in an “unusual way” in the price of products purchased frequently, specifies the Commission, such as bread, a cup of coffee, a haircut… The feeling of soaring prices is mainly linked to increases in everyday products, according to economist Aurélien Faubaire, head of the consumer prices department at INSEE, interviewed by France 2. According to the National Institute of Statistics, a baguette cost around 65 euro cents in 2001 and its price had increased by 10 cents.
On the other hand, the price of other products purchased less often, such as rent, insurance and a laptop, remained stable or increased very little. This is why many French people feel that the transition from the franc to the euro has caused prices to soar. However, prices subsequently increased. In 2022, INSEE noted a 30% increase in prices since 2002, but salaries have also increased, on average by 50%. The arrival of the euro has therefore not reduced purchasing power.
2 Rising energy prices are due to the EU: partially true
This statement was widely relayed during the 10% increase in electricity prices on February 1, 2024. The deputy Hadrien Clouet, elected from La France Insoumise in Haute-Garonne, for example shared this idea on the social network. But this increase was not decided by the European Union. It arises from the French government’s desire to gradually exit the tariff shield, put in place in 2022. As for the next increase announced for July 1, 2024, this is “essentially linked to the fact that consumption is falling”, justified Emmanuelle Wargon, president of the Energy Regulatory Commission. The EU is therefore not responsible either.
However, it is true that being a member of the European electricity market increases prices. This market was set up in 1990, its objective is to align prices for all member countries and create a common wholesale price regardless of national production costs. In this market, the price of electricity is based on the cost of fossil fuels used for production. The price of electricity is thus aligned with that of gas. In France, the electricity produced is inexpensive. However, it is sold at the price of gas on the European market. This one flew away during the war in Ukraine.
After having already reformed it in October 2023 to smooth the impact of gas price volatility, the European Union is planning a new reform of its energy market to limit these increases. Concretely, the recent increases in electricity prices are not linked to the EU, but its single electricity market makes electricity pay more than it costs to produce in France.
3 Europe imposes standards on France: false
The idea that the European Union imposes standards on the Twenty-Seven without them being able to give their opinion is a recurring one. However, if European standards are indeed effective in member countries, and sometimes take precedence over national standards, they are not necessarily imposed. Indeed, the laws adopted by the EU are all subject to a vote by the European institutions.
And it is possible to find the voting history of member states online. Since 2009, on the theme of agriculture, on of the 103 laws adopted, only three were not approved by France. Same observation on the environmental side: only two laws were adopted without France being in favor of them. As for laws relating to the economy, the 104 texts voted since 2009 have all obtained the French “for” vote.
The majority of laws adopted by the EU are passed using the ordinary legislative procedure introduced by the Maastricht Treaty. According to this 1992 text, this co-decision process begins with the development of a legislative proposal from the European Commission. This consults various stakeholders upstream: associations, NGOs, scientists, citizens, etc. Once drafted and approved by the European commissioners, the law is sent to Parliament. If MEPs vote on the text, it is transmitted to the Council of the European Union. This is where the representatives of the Member States give their opinion.
4 France gives more money than it receives: true
Is Europe costing the French state too much? This is what Jordan Bardella, head of the National Rally list in the next European elections, suggests. According to the far-right MEP, interviewed at the end of January on CNews, “France gives much more to the European Union budget than it receives”. “I would like to reduce the French contribution to the European Union budget, precisely so that this excess money is paid directly to the French economy”did he declare.
With 28.8 billion euros paid in 2021 to the European Union, France is in fact the second country contributing to the Union budget, behind Germany, details the European Commission on its website. However, “most of this contribution is proportional to the wealth of the country”she recalls, representing “around 1%” of gross national income, a value quite close to GDP. For 2024, the French budget devoted to Europe is set at 21.61 billion euros, according to the French Ministry of the Economy.
When we subtract the European funds received by France, it appears that it paid 5.9 billion euros to Europe from 2014 to 2020. This is less than Germany (12.7 billion ‘euros) and the United Kingdom (6.9 billion euros), notes the European Commission. However, from a strictly commercial point of view, France has benefited from its membership in the EU. According to a 2019 study (PDF) Led by the European Commission, the creation of a single market in 1993 contributed to the increase in EU GDP by 8 to 9% on average.
5 There are fewer farms in France because of the EU: to qualify
“The annihilation of our agriculture is wanted by the EU”accused former presidential candidate François Asselineau on the social network. To support his point, the founder of the Republican Popular Union (UPR), a fervent supporter of leaving the European Union, shared a visual supposedly showing how “France loses a quarter of its farms in ten years” between 2010 and 2020. But what do these statistics really mean? Is this a phenomenon specific to France?
The decrease in the number of farmers in France is proven. In its 2020 agricultural census, the latest to date, the Ministry of Agriculture counts nearly 390,000 farms in mainland France, compared to around 490,000 in 2010, a drop of 20%, underlines Agreste, the organization statistics from the ministry, on its website. “The farms are grouped together, there are fewer of them while working an equivalent space”, he explains. According to a note (PDF) from the same organization, their average surface area increased by 25%, from 55 to 69 hectares between 2010 and 2020, while the agricultural surface area used decreased by only 0.8%.
This phenomenon is not unique to France: according to Eurostat, the number of farms in the European Union fell by 37% between 2005 and 2020, with a marked disappearance of small farms. For Gérard Béaur, historian specializing in the rural world, interviewed by France 3, a “big turn” productivist was taken with the adoption of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1962. According to an April 2022 study, this favors “large intensive farms”. It should therefore be adapted more to small farms.
6 Posted workers create unfair competition: rather false
During a debate for the 2019 European elections on France Televisionsthe rebellious MEP Manon Aubry had accused Europe of “social dumping machine”, citing the European directive on posted workers. This directive would allow “for German companies to hire Romanian workers, while paying contributions… in Romania”according to the elected official, adding that she “establishes competition for the lowest social bidder”.
There has been a directive since 1996, allowing an employer to temporarily hire an employee from another country of the European Union. But as lawyer Isabelle Savier-Pluyette reminded us on franceinfo, the posted worker must work and be paid according to French law. “An employee who is posted to a country, but who does not have the same level of remuneration as French employees in the same activity, that would constitute unfair competition”, she believes. The principle is enshrined in a 2018 European directive, applied since the end of July 2020.
In addition, the French employer using the posted worker must pay travel and accommodation costs. However, he does not have to pay the social security contributions of the posted worker, since the latter’s country of origin takes care of them. According to a 2022 report from Dares, the statistical institute of the Ministry of Labor, seconded employees represented less than 2% of employees in France in 2021. Their missions lasted on average 100 days, mainly in construction.