ABSTRACT
Communist parties, both inside and outside Europe, have accepted the validity of the word Eurocommunism. Signs of the French Communist Party's (PCF) apparent acceptance of Eurocommunism are easy to find. The party leadership no longer rejects the word as meaningless. The PCF has refused to follow all the initiatives of the Soviet party in the international Communist movement, notably in the final stages of the preparations for the 1976 Berlin conference of European Communist parties. In the past, the French communists were always seen as the most faithful defenders in the west of the strategic interests of the Soviet Union and of the right of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to determine the policy of all other Communist parties. The historical uncertainty as to the PCF's ultimate loyalty, international Communism versus the nation-state of France, has more recently been supplemented by a new area of doubt, the precise role of the party within the French political system.
