France in Europe — EU Founding, Schengen & Foreign Policy

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established in 1951, bound France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg together. It was deliberately designed so that no single country could independently build the weapons of war.

9 May is now celebrated as Europe Day.

From the Treaty of Rome to the EU

The EEC (1957)

In 1957, the same six nations signed the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community (EEC) — a customs union and common market. France was its largest member, its strongest agricultural producer, and (with Germany) its political engine.

The Franco-German Motor

The relationship between France and Germany became the driving force of European integration. Every major step forward was negotiated between Paris and Berlin:

De Gaulle and Adenauer — signed the in 1963, institutionalising Franco-German cooperation
Giscard d'Estaing and Schmidt — created the European Monetary System (1979)
Mitterrand and Kohl — drove the Single European Act (1986) and the Maastricht Treaty (1992)
Chirac and Schröder — opposed the Iraq War together
Macron and Merkel/Scholz — navigated Brexit, COVID, and Ukraine

This partnership is not without friction — France and Germany frequently disagree on economics, defence, and institutional design — but the principle that Europe cannot move without Franco-German agreement remains axiomatic.

The Maastricht Treaty (1992) and the Euro

The Maastricht Treaty transformed the EEC into the European Union and laid the groundwork for the single currency. The French referendum on Maastricht was nail-bitingly close: 51.04% yes. The revealed deep divisions between pro-European urban France and Eurosceptic rural France that persist today.

France adopted the euro in 1999 (physical coins and notes in 2002), surrendering monetary sovereignty to the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. For a country that had controlled its own currency since Charlemagne, this was an extraordinary concession to European integration.

Schengen — Open Borders

France was a founding signatory of the Schengen Agreement (1985), which abolished border controls between participating states. For France, Schengen means that you can drive from Spain to Germany through France without stopping at a single border checkpoint.

The Schengen Area now includes 29 countries and 420 million people. France has temporarily reimposed border controls during terrorist threats (since 2015) and pandemic emergencies, but the principle of free movement remains central to the European project — and to the French economy, which depends on cross-border tourism, trade, and labour.

NATO and Defence

France was a founding member of NATO in 1949, but its relationship with the alliance has been complicated:

De Gaulle's withdrawal (1966) — de Gaulle pulled France out of NATO's integrated military command, insisting on French strategic independence. NATO headquarters moved from Paris to Brussels.
Return to military command (2009) — Under Sarkozy, France rejoined NATO's military command while maintaining its independent nuclear deterrent
Ukraine invasion (2022) — Macron's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine strengthened Franco-NATO ties, though France continues to push for a distinct European defence capability

The French Nuclear Deterrent

France's — commonly called the — gives it a military capability that no other EU member possesses. France maintains approximately 290 nuclear warheads deployed on submarine-launched ballistic missiles and air-launched cruise missiles. The deterrent is under sole presidential control — a power that makes the French presidency uniquely consequential in European security.

France at the United Nations

France is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council (alongside the US, UK, Russia, and China, the "P5"), with veto power. This status — a legacy of World War II and French Resistance — gives France disproportionate influence in global security decisions.

France's most celebrated use of this power was Jacques Chirac's veto threat against the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, delivered by Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin in a speech that drew rare applause at the Security Council.

Overseas France —

France's global reach extends far beyond metropolitan Europe. Thirteen overseas territories — from Caribbean islands to Pacific atolls to a slice of Antarctica — give France:

The world's second-largest exclusive economic zone (11 million km²)
Military bases on five continents
Territorial claims from the tropics to the poles
Over 2.7 million citizens living outside Europe

Key overseas territories include Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion, Mayotte, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia. These territories are represented in the French parliament, use the euro (except Pacific territories), and are part of the European Union (or associated with it).

France's Place in the World Today

France in 2026 is:

The world's 7th-largest economy (GDP ~$3 trillion)
The world's most-visited country (~90 million tourists/year)
A permanent UN Security Council member with nuclear weapons
A founding EU member and (with Germany) the union's political engine
The world's second-largest diplomatic network
A major arms exporter and military power (active in the Sahel, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific)

The tension between European solidarity and national sovereignty, between multilateralism and , between openness and protectionism — these are not contradictions that France resolves. They are the dynamics that make French foreign policy endlessly fascinating and consequential.

France built Europe, shaped it, argues with it, and cannot imagine a future without it. That complex, passionate, sometimes exasperating relationship is one of the great stories of modern politics.

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