ABSTRACT
The 2002 French elections offered up few definitive clues as to the future course of French relations with the European Union (EU). The salience of Europe as a distinct and separate issue was therefore always likely to be low for voters in 2002 in comparison with issues perceived as more pressing, and it is not surprising that most candidates played to the fact of political life. The presidential candidates' programmes between them signalled a variety of positions towards the EU, very few of which were particularly well-defined or conclusive or convincing. Since the elections signs have appeared of splits within the Socialist Party over the extent of its association with the anti-globalisation voices to its left. The whole 'strange affair' of the 2002 presidential and parliamentary elections in France invites closer analysis of France's image and identity as an EU member state.
