France, May 18 -- The European project has been fuelled by French men. Jean Monnet and Robert Schumann helped lay the foundations for what would become the EU, Jacques Delors founded the single currency and Giscard d'Estaing, Francois Mitterrand and incumbent President Emmanuel Macron have all championed Europe and its values of peace, unity and democracy.

But surveys suggest France's love affair with Europe is going through a rocky patch.

The European Commission's 2023 Eurobarometer ranked France bottom of the 27 member states with only a third saying they trusted the EU. It also found the French were the most pessimistic about the EU's future.

A poll published on May 8 showed 46 percent were "worried" about Europe, while another surv...