France and the Enlargement of the European Union to Central and Eastern European Countries from François Mitterrand to Nicolas Sarkozy: A continuation or renunciation of the French concept of European integration?

The Diploma thesis "France and the Enlargement of the European Union to Central and Eastern European Countries from François Mitterrand to Nicolas Sarkozy: A continuation or renunciation of the French concept of European integration?" attempts to evaluate to what extent constituent elements of the French concept of European integration has been modified by the expansion to Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) in May, 2004 and January, 2007. The first part delves into the interests which the French commitment was based on in the European integration and the process which led France, in 1993, to accept, along with the other member states, the objective of the membership of the CEE countries. We then shift our focus to the period prior to the enlargement (1993-2004), the necessity for France to adapt itself, from an economic and European institution point of view, to the planned future configuration of the European Union as well as the internal debates (in Parliament) leading up to May, 2004, because they reveal the perceived stakes, for France, in this enlargement. Finally, the study of the strong French lines during the period commencing with the 2004 enlargement to the start of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency, of the parliamentary debates and first balance sheets of the enlargement to the CEE countries..