The French secured only a handful of the coveted jobs in the European Parliament after the May elections and many believe they only have themselves to blame, reports the BBC.
As the horse-trading over top posts in the parliament draws to an end, French gains look slim. They obtained two of a total of 22 parliamentary committees and sub-committees and are now in charge of fishing and the budget. Arguably not much to write home about.
For France, one of the founding members of the EU, this is evidence that its influence is, for the moment at least, on the wane.
So it's probably with some irony that the French look across at their British partners. They may be more Eurosceptic than ever, but British politicians can at least work the European Union machinery.
Unlike French National Front leader Marine Le Pen, UKIP's Nigel Farage succeeded in attracting enough MEPs to form a parliamentary group and he now heads the Europe of Freedom and Democracy grouping.
"The British and the Germans are better organised," former Prime Minister Francois Fillon recently admitted. "First time around, [their MEPs] learn the ropes; second time around, they establish themselves, and then they run the show."
France's EU heavyweights, Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Joseph Daul, president of the Parliament's largest grouping, the centre-right European People's Party, are both retiring this year. And candidates of their calibre have yet to emerge.
Read more of this report from the BBC.