Somebody tell the French.
For the first half of 2022, Paris will be in charge of the European Union agenda, as France takes up the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, the body in charge of coordinating policies and pushing proposals into law.
And yet a majority of French voters don’t know it’s a thing. Asked which country will take charge of the rotating presidency on January 1, just 49 percent said “France.”
When it comes to the presidency the French are talking about — their own — European issues aren’t much of a priority. Just 13 percent of French voters consider Europe among the determining issues for their choice in the first round of the French presidential election in April.
Bread and butter issues such as, well, the price of bread and butter are considered more important. Immigration and health care are the other two issues most often cited in a recent poll. Those planning to vote for French President Emmanuel Macron or the Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo are the most likely to see Europe as decisive to their vote.
Those French voters who are aware of their country’s upcoming EU presidency have clear ideas of what it should focus on.
For the most part, however, the French don’t care much for the EU. In the most recent Eurobarometer, a pan-EU poll conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission, just seven countries had a lower share of respondents with a positive feeling about the EU.
