(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The majority of people in France still do not consider themselves as European citizens, according to a poll by TNS Sofres and CIDEM. 38 per cent of respondents think of themselves as citizens of Europe—up nine points since December 2001—while 62 per cent do not.

France is one of the founding members of the European Economic Community (ECC), the predecessor of the European Union (EU). On Oct. 29, 2004, EU heads of state officially signed the European Constitution. The project for a continental body of law was practically abandoned in 2005, after voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the proposed document in two plebiscites.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy—whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU—was one of the staunchest supporters of a new version of the constitution known as the Lisbon Treaty. The future of the proposed body of law is yet to be defined after a majority of voters in Ireland rejected its adoption in June.

On Sept. 5, Polish president Lech Kaczynski accused Germany and France of dominating the EU, saying that the group is governed by a "directorate" from Berlin and Paris. Kaczynski vowed to "change" that in the future.

Polling Data

Do you think of yourself as a citizen of Europe?

Source: TNS Sofres / CIDEM
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 French adults, conducted on Jul. 22 and Jul. 23, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Archive Search

Over 19,600 Polls
Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Polls & Research archive.