The candidates and Europe: who wants France to leave the EU?

Who wants France to leave the European Union? Of the eleven candidates in the test, only one: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan. The other ten want France to stay in the EU, but they do not want the same Europe. Some want French law to prevail over European law and to keep each country's veto; others want the EU to take more decisions by majority and to move towards a federal Europe.

Some background. France is a founding member of the European project. Under Article 55 of the Constitution, duly ratified treaties, and therefore European law, prevail over French acts of Parliament (Constitution). In several areas, such as foreign policy and taxation, EU decisions are taken unanimously: any member state can block them. And a country can leave the Union through the procedure in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

The test asks about these issues under the topic "Europe". Three statements are in the main test; two more, on Schengen and Ukraine's accession, are asked only as tie-breakers, when the result is close. Below are the positions of all eleven candidates, each based on a programme, a statement or a vote. An asterisk (*) marks an estimated position: the candidate has not addressed the question directly, and the position is inferred from what they have said elsewhere. On this topic 4 of the 55 positions are estimated, only one of them in the main test (Édouard Philippe's on the veto).

The candidates' positions

The two tie-break statements are covered further down.

Leaving the European Union

"France should leave the European Union." This is the statement in the main test on which the candidates agree most: ten disagree and only one agrees. Every position has a source.

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan strongly agrees. In September 2026 he made leaving the European Union the first pillar of his campaign (back-to-school speech "Libérons la France !"); his party plans to put the exit to a referendum and to replace the EU with à-la-carte cooperation between states (Debout la France platform, "European affairs").

Four candidates "disagree" without being at the end of the scale: they would stay in the EU but want to change its rules.

• Marine Le Pen: according to LCP, she no longer questions France's membership of the EU or the euro; her party wants to turn the Union into a "European Alliance of Nations" (LCP, 12 September 2026).
• Éric Zemmour: his 2022 manifesto wants to defend France's interests "within the European Union" and build a "Europe of Nations" (p. 13).
• Jean-Luc Mélenchon: his programme does not propose leaving the EU; it seeks to renegotiate the treaties and, meanwhile, to disobey "blocking rules" (L'Avenir en commun, ch. 17).
• Fabien Roussel: his party's 2026 platform proposes "challenging the European treaties" for a Europe of sovereign nations, and leaves its stance on the EU to an internal debate by 2028 (p. 8).

The other six strongly disagree. Gabriel Attal calls Frexit "the old nightmare" (Reims speech, 17 September 2026, p. 10). Raphaël Glucksmann wants France to be "the locomotive of European power" (letter to the French, August 2026). Édouard Philippe wants "France at the heart of Europe. Not alongside. Not far away" (Reims, 10 May 2026). David Lisnard said: "We have no intention of leaving Europe" (Bayeux speech, p. 10). Bruno Retailleau rejects even a "legal Frexit" and wants France to be "loyal and reliable" towards the EU (Le Figaro, 2 September 2026). The Écologistes' programme of Marine Tondelier states that "never have we needed Europe so much" (p. 189).

French law above European law?

"French law should take precedence over European law." Here the picture changes: six candidates agree, one is neutral and four disagree. Every position has a source.

• Nicolas Dupont-Aignan: his party's platform proposes restoring, by referendum and in the Constitution, "the primacy of French law over all European rules" (platform, "Justice").
• Marine Le Pen: the RN's 2024 European programme proposes reasserting the supremacy of the French Constitution over European rules and courts (p. 7).
• Éric Zemmour: his 2022 manifesto proposes amending Article 55 of the Constitution so that new national laws take precedence over earlier treaties and European law (p. 14).
• David Lisnard wants to write into the Constitution the primacy of national law on migration and to revise Article 55, while admitting that EU law cannot be shed "with a stroke of the pen" (Nouvelle Énergie programme).
• Jean-Luc Mélenchon: his programme proposes to "reaffirm the supremacy of the fundamental principles of the Constitution of the 6th Republic over European law" (ch. 17).
• Fabien Roussel: his party's platform states that "the sovereign rights of European peoples must prevail over the austerity and warmongering decisions" of the EU, and proposes not applying the energy directives (p. 8).

Bruno Retailleau is neutral: he wants EU law "above ordinary laws", otherwise "it is a legal Frexit", "but below our Constitution", and an organic law able to override some rulings of the European courts (Le Figaro).

The four who disagree want more integration instead. Gabriel Attal proposes a "United States of Europe", with sovereign powers staying national (Reims speech). The Place publique programme of Raphaël Glucksmann backs a "federal Europe" with a new treaty (p. 12), and the Écologistes' programme of Marine Tondelier a "European federal leap" (p. 190). Édouard Philippe wants "full European sovereignty" without leaving the treaties, while wanting France "free to go it alone when necessary" (Adidas Arena speech).

This statement therefore puts on the same side candidates who are far apart elsewhere: Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel agree with Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour that national rules should prevail over European law, even though they do not want to protect the same rules.

Majority voting without a veto

"The European Union should take more decisions by majority, without a veto for each country." Three candidates agree, one is neutral and seven disagree.

• Raphaël Glucksmann: his party's programme proposes moving to qualified-majority voting in the European Council (p. 12); his 2024 European programme already called for "the end of unanimity".
• Marine Tondelier: the Écologistes' programme proposes to "replace national vetoes with qualified majority voting", including on tax and foreign policy (p. 190).
• Gabriel Attal wants to break the "dogma of unanimity" and move ahead with coalitions of willing countries (op-ed in Le Figaro, June 2026).

Édouard Philippe's neutral position is estimated: he calls for "full European sovereignty" in defence, energy and artificial intelligence, but has not addressed the veto.

Of those who disagree, three are at the end of the scale. The RN's 2024 European programme of Marine Le Pen would guarantee each state's veto and extend it to trade policy (p. 7); that of Reconquête, Éric Zemmour's party, rejects ending unanimity, which it says would lead to a "federal super-state" (p. 8); Nicolas Dupont-Aignan wants to leave the EU and, meanwhile, restore France's veto over any trade agreement (platform, "European affairs").

Four more disagree. Jean-Luc Mélenchon plans to "use France's veto"; in 2024 his movement wanted to keep unanimity on foreign and defence policy but scrap it on tax (LFI's European programme, p. 95). Fabien Roussel's party criticises "the extension of the Commission's powers" (p. 8). Bruno Retailleau says he is "not federalist at all" (JDD, August 2026) and David Lisnard holds that "European sovereignty is an oxymoron" (Bayeux speech, p. 11); neither explicitly mentions the veto.

Schengen and Ukraine's accession (tie-breakers)

"Free movement in the Schengen area should be limited to EU citizens." Four candidates agree. Marine Le Pen (RN 2024 programme, p. 6), Bruno Retailleau, who wants free movement "for Europeans but not for non-Europeans" (JDD), and Éric Zemmour (Reconquête's European programme, p. 6) strongly agree; Nicolas Dupont-Aignan agrees and goes further: his party wants to leave Schengen and restore national borders. David Lisnard's neutral position is estimated. Against: Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe want closer coordination within Schengen against mass regularisations decided by a single state, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel defend freedom of movement, and Marine Tondelier strongly disagrees; Raphaël Glucksmann's position is estimated.

"Ukraine should join the European Union." Four candidates agree: Raphaël Glucksmann and Marine Tondelier (strongly), Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe: in March 2025, Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe's Horizons group voted in the National Assembly for a resolution urging the EU to facilitate Ukraine's accession (vote no. 988, Datan). Six disagree. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan says Ukraine joining the EU "would be a major historic mistake" (JDNews, June 2026); the programmes of Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour reject enlargement; Jean-Luc Mélenchon's movement rejects it until ecological, social and tax harmonisation has been achieved; Bruno Retailleau told the Senate in March 2024 that membership "is not on the agenda" without reform of the EU institutions, and that "our farmers must not pay the price of this war" (Senate record, 13 March 2024). Fabien Roussel replied in February 2024 to Ukraine's request to join the EU and NATO: "It is not possible"; he calls for its neutrality (Europe 1, 21 February 2024). David Lisnard's neutral position is estimated.

Four views of Europe

The three main-test statements sketch four groups.

• Leave: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan is the only one who wants to leave the EU, and the only one at the end of the scale on all three statements.
• A Europe of nations: Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour have exactly the same positions (stay, but with the primacy of French law and each country's veto). Bruno Retailleau and David Lisnard are close to them on the veto, but firmer about staying in the EU and more nuanced on the primacy of French law.
• Change the treaties: Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel also share all three positions: no exit and no federal Europe, the primacy of national rules and the veto.
• More integration: Raphaël Glucksmann and Marine Tondelier (same positions, in favour of a federal Europe), Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe oppose leaving and oppose the primacy of French law, and favour more majority voting or are neutral on it.

What separates the groups: leaving the EU separates Nicolas Dupont-Aignan from everyone else; the primacy of French law and the veto separate the two middle groups from the last one; and on Schengen and Ukraine, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Fabien Roussel side with the last group on free movement, but with the "Europe of nations" candidates against enlargement.

Who is closest to whom on Europe

To compare the candidates two by two, we added up the gaps between their positions on the three main-test statements (our calculation). Zero would mean identical positions; the maximum is 12. Here are some pairs, from the closest to the furthest apart.

On Europe, Marine Le Pen is closer to Jean-Luc Mélenchon (2) than to Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (3), from whom leaving the EU separates her. Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Raphaël Glucksmann, close on the political compass, are clearly opposed on the veto ("disagree" against "strongly agree") and on the primacy of French law. The furthest apart are Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and the two candidates most in favour of integration, Raphaël Glucksmann and Marine Tondelier (11 out of 12). The Attal-Philippe pair relies on one estimated position, Édouard Philippe's on the veto.

The "Europe" topic does not count towards the political compass, which uses only the economic and social topics. It does count, like all the others, in your affinity with each candidate: this is one reason why two candidates who are neighbours on the compass can be far apart in your result.

Further reading

• All the statements on the topic, with sources: "Europe".
• The candidates' positions on every statement in the test: candidate comparison.
• Compare two candidates, for example Marine Le Pen and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Raphaël Glucksmann, Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon or Marine Le Pen and Gabriel Attal.
• On Ukraine and European defence: "The candidates, Ukraine and defence".
• Who the candidates are: "The 2027 French presidential candidates explained".
• Candidate pages: Gabriel Attal, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Raphaël Glucksmann, Marine Le Pen, David Lisnard, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Édouard Philippe, Bruno Retailleau, Fabien Roussel, Marine Tondelier, Éric Zemmour.
• Find out which candidate you are closest to across all topics: take the test.