France Link

Three quarters of French 'against a return to the franc'

But poll also suggests that a higher number of French feel that the European Union has 'more disadvantages than advantages' than the reverse.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Almost three quarters of the French are against leaving the euro, in a blow to Front National leader Marine Le Pen, who wants to restore the franc, a poll revealed on Friday, reports The Telegraph.

Despite their desire to hang on to the single currency, Euroscepticism runs deep in France, the poll also suggested, as a higher number of French feel that the European Union has "more disadvantages than advantages" than the reverse.

Some 72 percent of the French polled by the Elabe polling institute in a survey published in Friday's Les Echos newspaper were opposed to ditching the euro and returning to a national currency, with 44 percent saying they were "very opposed". Only 28 per cent backed a return to the franc.

Ms Le Pen, who is currently polling to reach the final round of France's upcoming presidential election, has pledged to hold a referendum on France's EU membership and take France out of the euro to return to a new French franc.

Opinion polls show she would be defeated by pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron or conservative François Fillon in the presidential run-off on May 7.

However, in sign that the French were less enthusiastic about the European Union's current state, some 37 percent of respondents in the Elabe poll said being a member of the 28-country club had "more disadvantages than advantages".

Read more of this report from The Telegraph.