The campaign for the presidential election in France during the spring of 2002 was characterised by the candidates’ silence on the theme of Europe. How can we account for this silence when 2002 was equally the year when the euro became Europe’s legal currency ? It was also the year when the European Convention sessions began. Admittedly, this silence has been now more or less discarded because of a second ballot with one unexpected candidate. Then, far from betraying the absence of Europe in the French political landscape, it might rather show its paramount importance. –Summary AFRI-2003