Students' Union - Variations Depending On Country - Europe - France

France

The French higher education system is centrally organized, so that local university bodies have restricted decision-making power. As a consequence, student unions are generally established at national level with local sections in most universities. The largest national student unions have a strong political identity and their actions are generally restricted to the defense of their vision of higher education rather than the particular interests of the membership of a single university. Union membership is regarded as an essentially political decision, without any particular advantage for students. The strength of unions can be best measured by their effectiveness in national protests rather than by membership figures. The most important student unions in France ist: the left-leaning Union nationale des étudiants de France (National Students Union of France, UNEF)

There are also struggle student unions as Sud etudiant or FSE (Federation syndicale etudiante) which refuse to cooperate with the universities direction and work to organize students.

In the Grandes écoles, the premium league in the French higher education system, students are generally members of the official Student Offices (Bureau des Elèves) in charge of the organization of social activities and sports events. The constitutions of these societies, which work in close partnership with the school administration, usually prevent union members from running for executive positions in order to keep the school independent from political groups that would eventually harm the school prestige.