In this Cover to Cover seminar, Prof. Frédéric Bozo discusses his new book on François Mitterrand’s pivotal 1983 economic and monetary decisions that reshaped the French left and defined France’s trajectory within Europe.
On 21 March 1983, after ten days of intense uncertainty and high‑level debate within the French government, President François Mitterrand authorized a third devaluation of the French franc since the left’s victory in 1981—and, crucially, chose to keep the currency inside the European Monetary System (EMS). By rejecting the so‑called alternative policy of floating the franc, Mitterrand made a decision that has shaped France’s economic direction, political identity, and European engagement for more than four decades.
For some observers, the 1983 decision represented a pragmatic embrace of stability and European integration, marking the end of an overly ambitious socialist experiment. For others, it symbolized the French left’s abandonment of economic voluntarism and social ambition, setting Europe on a path toward the neoliberal architecture later consolidated in the Maastricht Treaty and the creation of the euro.
The narrative of the tournant de la rigueur has since become a foundational reference point—defining how scholars, policymakers, and citizens understand the trajectory of France and the broader European project.
But does this widely accepted story reflect what truly happened? What political calculations, ideological debates, and international constraints shaped Mitterrand’s choice? And how should we assess the legacy of 1983 today?
This event revisits the critical days surrounding the decision, re‑examines the historical record, and explores the central role played by Mitterrand in a turning point that continues to influence economic policy and European integration.
Speaker Frédéric Bozo is Professor of contemporary history at the Institute of European Studies at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris. He has worked and published extensively on France’s foreign, European and security policies as well as Franco-American and Franco-German relations. His book publications include Mitterrand, the End of the Cold War and German Unification (New York/Oxford : Berghahn Books, 2009) and French foriegn policy since 1945 : An Introduction (New York/Oxford : Berghahn Books, 2016). His latest book is Le tournant de 1983, une histoire politique. La gauche, la rigueur, l’Europe (Paris : Odile Jacob, 2025).
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