A Defiance that settles in time
France-Soir and the Association BonSens.org continue their series of sociological surveys with a third wave carried out on 27 and 28 March 2025 by MIS Group. After the January and February 2025 polls, which had already highlighted a crisis of confidence in the management of Emmanuel Macron and opacity around the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines, this new study paints an alarming portrait of French perceptions. At the approach of the 2027 election deadlines and in a climate of international tensions – especially around the conflict in Ukraine and global economic pressures, the French have expressed a deep rejection of their institutions and a desire for radical change.
This article discusses the confidence of the French towards the institutions and their fears for the future.
The free fall of institutions: a crisis of total legitimacy
The survey reveals a massive disapproval: 76% of French people criticize the management of Emmanuel Macron, and only 4% believe that he is leading the country in the right direction.
Legislative institutions are not spared: 69% disapprove of the National Assembly, 58% the Senate, and 56% the Council of State. Less than 20% of respondents have a favorable opinion of these counter-powers, a historically low figure that transcends political divides.
This mistrust is explained by a perception of inefficiency and corruption: 71% do NOT have confidence in the government, 72% believe that it does not act in their interest, and 75% believe that corruption gangrenes the system.
In March 2025, the financial scandals involving local elected officials and dubious public contracts, relayed by the independent media, have only served to amplify this sentiment.
Public spending in the viewfinder: fed up of waste
The French are unanimous: 93% denounce public spending tainted with waste, fraud and inefficiency.
In a context in which the French public debt exceeds 120 % of GDP in 2025, according to IMF projections, 87 % require measures – even draconian – to restore the budgetary balance’.
And 89% believe that the opposition of right and left should impose a mission to reduce government spending ! Could a waste reduction target involve members of the national representation? If the latter were really acting in the interest of the population, it could flow from source !
An overwhelming majority of 96% plebiscites a decrease in spending
with 90% supporting a large-scale fight against fraud and 86% a reduction in budgets already voted.
Against the backdrop of the global energy crisis and soaring gas prices, 54% wish to lift the ban on oil and shale gas research in France, marking a pragmatic turn in the face of promises of ecological transition deemed increasingly « unrealistic » by many.
The ZFE and global warming: when ecology becomes synonymous with exclusion and segregation
Climate policy is crystallizing tensions. The Low Emission Areas (ZFE), deployed in major cities such as Paris and Lyon, are perceived as discriminatory by 66% of French people, who see it as a law of social exclusion affecting the most modest.
In March 2025, protests against the ZFE in Lille and Marseille, where motorists blocked roads, amplified this grumbling.
On global warming, 77% are calling for a complete overhaul of current policies, criticising a dogmatic approach that ignores divergent scientific advice. The transition to wind divides: 53 % oppose ending the policy of energy transition to wind and 47 % are in favour. This is a real subject, especially with the rise in prices of energy perceived as a real problem in the lives of the French.
Unsustainable debt: categorical refusal of new sacrifices
While the French debt reached peaks in 2025, 81% of the respondents consider it unsustainable.
Faced with this situation, the government’s funding proposals are massively rejected :
Europe and sovereignty: fracture with the elites
The idea of a federal Europe, promoted by Emmanuel Macron, is losing speed: 52 % are opposed, against 22 % who support it. Conversely, 55% support a Europe of Nations based on trade agreements, reflecting an attachment to national sovereignty.
Perception of corruption within the European institutions (71 %) reinforces this rejection, while investigations into malfeasance in Brussels are making headlines in 2025.
On the geopolitical level, however the opposition to the sending of troops to Ukraine (73 %) and the mutualization of the French nuclear reflects a desire to disengage from military adventures driven by NATO.
Macron and world leaders: transnational unpopularity
Emmanuel Macron shares a rate of unfavorable opinions (78 %) comparable to that of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in a context where Russian-Ukrainian tensions and the American elections of 2024 dominate the news. Xi Jinping (58 %) and Volodymyr Zelensky (32 %) are better off, the latter benefiting from an image of resistant despite the ABSENCE of’elections in Ukraine.
At the European level it is not much better. 50% of the French have an unfavorable opinion of Ursula von der Leyen and 39% of Christine Lagarde. For others, look instead : not far from 50% have never heard of them and 35% are without an opinion.
People in key positions such as Rutte (Otan), Kallas, Metsola, Costa at the EC are unknown to the French, illustrating the gap between citizens and technocratic elites. The opinion of those who know them is mostly unfavorable.
At a point of no return?
This third wave of’ investigation confirms a historic crisis of confidence between the French and their leaders.
With 72% of respondents believing that Emmanuel Macron divided the country, the
and 53% that he has made the world more chaotic
the president appears as a symbol of discord.
The demand for resignation (for 54% of French people) reflects a widespread ras-le-bol (fed up), exacerbated by social inequalities, economic crises and policies perceived as disconnected.
In a climate of international uncertainty and internal fragility, France seems to be at a turning point: calls for a radical overhaul of institutions and priorities could reshape the political landscape by 2027.
The fourth part of this investigation will focus on the fears of the French and the way they get information.
BonSens.org and France-Soir study analyzed by FranceSoir.fr on the situation in France, at the international conducted on March 27-28, 2025 on a representative sample of the French population of 1200 people. Quota method on the criteria of sex, age, socio-professional category and geographical distribution. The survey was carried out by MIS Group for the association Bonsens.org and the company Shopper Union France SAS which publishes and publishes the site www.francesoir.fr. All surveys have statistically significant margins of error, reduced in this case by the sample size of 1200 people. Every person has the right to consult the notice provided for in article 3 of the law.
Source
Featured image source, Macron:
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Source: TLB
