Overview

• Thousands of trade unionists and activists demonstrated in Brussels and prepared for rallies in Paris to demand sovereignty and solidarity two decades after the 2005 referendum rejection.
• France’s 2005 vote saw 54.7% of voters reject the European Constitutional Treaty, framing the debate as a choice against neoliberal austerity rather than against Europe itself.
• The 2007 Lisbon Treaty was ratified by parliament without a public vote, a move widely condemned as a breach of popular sovereignty and a turning point in democratic legitimacy concerns.
• Commentators like Georges Kuzmanovic and Florent Stumm argue that early warnings about deregulation, social decline and institutional overreach have proven prescient.
• Essayists such as Aurélien Bernier warn that the EU’s legal framework locks in market liberalization, making meaningful internal reform unlikely and fueling calls for either a fundamental overhaul or a French exit.