France’s Evolving Role: Unions, Politics, and International Influence
The peacekeeping role played by unions in May 1968 allowed them to achieve a series of social reforms: CVT (collective bargaining agreements); wage agreements in the civil service; and advance notice for contract cancellations of three years, among others. The union attitude toward the crises of the 1970s was not unanimously aligned with government policy. Before Mitterrand, plant responses varied depending on the specific issue. The government attempted to reduce unemployment and increase wages, but despite some reforms, the trade deficit grew, and wages were frozen. A million people demonstrated in Paris in 1984 against a bill to reform education, leading to a change in the government’s economic policy. Cohabitation created space for social demands. Railroad workers went on strike, initially met with tolerance from users. The economic crisis of the 1990s affected workers and accentuated inequalities in contracts and unemployment. After a recession, unions have maintained aligning strategies, sometimes accepting the lesser evil of not fully achieving their objectives and sometimes protesting more vigorously. France remains a leading country in driving the phased implementation of the 35-hour work week.
France’s European and International Presence
The two World Wars, especially the latter, greatly influenced France’s two main directions in international politics. First, defending the independence of France, and second, linked to this, maintaining a distinct French international policy. Presidents of the Fifth Republic, regardless of political affiliation, have upheld both commitments as a national hallmark. During the Cold War, France continued its role as a great power, which began when Churchill suggested placing a territory in the western part of Germany under French control. This resulted in international recognition of France as a victorious power over its traditional enemy, Germany. In 1990, France relinquished its occupation rights to facilitate the reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The possession of atomic weapons since 1960 was another key factor ensuring France’s presence as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power. This international political capacity has been linked to the development of the European Union and transatlantic security policy. Although France has sought to maintain its independence in both cases, it has had to share interests with other actors, especially with Germany after reunification. A member of NATO since its creation in 1949, France separated from its military structure in 1966, working to strengthen its independence from the United States, though French involvement was always maintained in the operations of the Atlantic Alliance. One of the most influential areas of French international policy has been in Africa, defending its colonial and postcolonial interests, both economically and militarily. Their presence is manifested in involvement in pan-African summits as well as direct and indirect support to groups in conflict.
In an increasingly globalized world, France’s role must necessarily align with the international presence of the European Union. The failures of particular solutions experienced during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the loss of European influence in the Middle East, and the crisis that started with the attacks of September 11, 2001, on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, evidently articulate the need for French interests to be framed within the European Union as a way to maintain an international presence.