In a geopolitical context marked by the conflagration of the Middle East and the stagnation of the war in Ukraine, Europe seems very alone. According to a study carried out by Ifop for the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, a majority of French people are in favor of strengthening the union of EU member states around a common defensive architecture.
Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the hypothesis of a conventional confrontation on its soil has resurfaced, eclipsing the “peace dividends” born from the fall of the USSR. Added to this is the war in Iran and, since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the questioning of NATO. Published in December 2025, the American security doctrine criticizes a Europe “En declin” of “Not doing your fair share” of contribution to the Atlantic alliance.
According to this survey, 63% of French people say they are in favor of the creation of a European army. Although there is less consensus on the concept than in 1999 (72%), it enjoys transpartisan support, from LFI supporters to those of the RN. In 2025, the European Commission announced the launch of “ReArm Europe”, since renamed “Readiness 2030”, an investment plan of 800 billion euros to strengthen the military capabilities of member countries over five years. From there to resurrect the aborted project of the European Defense Community? In the 1950s, the idea of creating a European army under the rule of NATO inflamed public opinion, until the rejection of the text by the National Assembly in 1954.
European nuclear deterrent
With this in mind, the idea of a nuclear deterrent on an EU scale appeals to 58% of respondents. On March 2, Emmanuel Macron announced the principle of “advanced deterrence” in partnership with eight European countries, to welcome strategic air forces on their soil, in other words Rafale planes, carrying the ASMP-A missile. The subject is above all a consensus among respondents close to the PS (84%), Renaissance (76%) and LFI (75%). Only 45% of RN supporters are in favor, these being more attached to French sovereignty in terms of strategic armaments.
Implicitly, the survey reveals support for the idea of European strategic autonomy. 48% of French people say they are in favor of a European defense independent of NATO, 28% for a renationalization of defense responsibilities and only 24% for maintaining the Atlantic Alliance as it stands.
On several occasions, Donald Trump has described NATO as “Tigre de papier”adopting the expression formerly used by Mao Tsé-tung with regard to the United States. The barely concealed appetite of the head of the White House for Greenland, the end of direct American military aid to Ukraine since the summer of 2025, the refusal of Europe’s support for the war led by Uncle Sam in Iran are all cracks which weaken the alliance and its article 5, which binds the member countries to provide military assistance to an attacked country.
The French are more attached to Europe as a space of common history and heritage than to the EU as an institution
During his speech at the Sorbonne in 2017, Emmanuel Macron became the herald of European defense, declaring that “When it comes to defense, our objective must be Europe’s capacity for autonomous action […] which must therefore be equipped with a common intervention force, a common defense budget and a common doctrine to act.”. Nine years later, military spending by European countries represents 30% of military spending on a global scale. Under pressure from Donald Trump, European NATO states committed last year to increasing their budgets allocated to defense and security to 5% of their GDP.
If 58% of French people believe that belonging to Europe is a “bonne chose”they are more attached to the continent as an area of common history and heritage (68%) than to the EU as an institution (46%). In the eyes of our compatriots, it is therefore not the legitimacy of Europe that counts, but its incarnation.
/2026/05/09/69feea42f41bb666675244.jpg "War in the Middle East: an oil slick of more than 50 km2 detected in the Gulf off the coast of Iran")
