Books
'French Municipal Democracy: Cradle of European Citizenship?'
Dr. Sue Collard
This paper aims to make a contribution to the empirical study of the development of
European citizenship at grass roots level, through the analysis of political participation of non-
French EU citizens resident in France (NFEUCRIFs) at local elections in 2001 and 2008 in France.
Official statistics show that whilst there has been a considerable increase in 2008 both in terms of
voter registration and election to municipal councils compared with 2001, these figures still
represent only a tiny proportion of the total number of voters and elected candidates. Nevertheless,
France remains a fruitful site for further qualitative analysis of how these ‘pioneers' of European
citizenship may (or may not) be contributing to the building of some kind of ‘Eurodemocracy' at
grass-roots level, and whether or not any links between municipal politics and the wider European
framework can be meaningfully established.
Published by; Journal of Contemporary European Studies (JCES),