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FRANCE & THE EU

FRANCE & THE EU. Basic Characteristics. Most popular tourist destination in the world Population: 61 million Agricultural heritage 70% of nation Roman Catholic, yet less than 1/3 practicing Catholicism still influential: c. social doctrine, death of JPII. Sense of Nationalism.

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FRANCE & THE EU

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  1. FRANCE & THE EU

  2. Basic Characteristics • Most popular tourist destination in the world • Population: 61 million • Agricultural heritage • 70% of nation Roman Catholic, yet less than 1/3 practicing • Catholicism still influential: c. social doctrine, death of JPII

  3. Sense of Nationalism • Strong National Consciousness, sense of nationalism • Due in Part to French Revolution (1789-1799) & Napoleon (1799-1815)

  4. Frances Colonial Empire • Canada: Quebec • Caribbean: St. Lucia, etc. • Algeria, Syria, Lebanon • French Indochina: Vietnam • Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Benin, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo

  5. Government: Administrative Departments • Total of 26 • Includes Corsica • Includes Four Overseas Departments: Guadeloupe (Caribbean), Martinique (Caribbean), French Guiana (South America) and Reunion (Indian Ocean)

  6. Political / Legal Character • Unitary, Highly Centralized, Highly Professional, Elite Bureaucracy (“bureau” means desk in French); dirigisme & social welfare • Legal System: Napoleonic Code (evolved from Roman civil code tradition)

  7. Political Development • Tumultuous political development • French Revolution (1789-1799) • Sixteen constitutions, five republics

  8. Executive • French President and Prime minister share executive powers, President usually most powerful • Phenomenon of “cohabitation”

  9. Legislative • Blend of presidential and parliamentary system • National Assembly & Senate; Nat’l Assembly more powerful of the two • Relatively weak legislative branch • Exec-Legis arrangement legacy of De Gaulle who disdained strong legislative branch

  10. Government • Elections for President and National Assembly held at different times • Referendums are used more than other European countries

  11. Political Parties • Though France is a multi-party system, it has tended toward two broad coalitions, Right and Left • Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front stunned the nation (and world) in 2002 by winning second place in the first round of the presidential election

  12. EU Early Leadership • Jean Monnet and Robert Schumann took the lead in establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 • France took the leading role in killing the European Defense Community (EDC) in 1954 even though Prime Minister Rene Pleven had proposed it.

  13. EU Early Leadership • De Gaulle (1958-1969) shaped the CAP, vetoed British EC entry and withdrew French military forces from NATO • Georges Pompidou permitted British EC entry

  14. Political Parties • Four main political forces have dominated French politics since the declaration of the Fifth Republic in 1958: the neo-Gaullists, their allies in the non-Gaullist right or centre-right, the Socialists and the Communists. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right's most prominent voice, occasionally manages to get attention, most recently for claiming to have predicted the urban riots of October-November 2005.

  15. Military • 2.6% GNP on defense, largest in EU (cf. 2.4% for the UK / Fr + UK = 40% of EU military spending • 359,000 personnel • World’s only nuclear aircraft carrier (other than the U.S.) • Makes the Exocet missile, the Rafale fighter, their nuclear carrier, the LeClerc tank

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