But facts show that the sense they have of an unarguable, lofty superiority has often led our British friends into the oversights and procrastination for which our own farmers are now paying the price. Maybe they have a point. After all, there is no question that methods of intensive farming set off the mad cow crisis - Britain's first epidemiological export. Equally France's strong tradition of public service and central organisation have arguably meant a quicker and more efficient response to the disease than in Britain. But the French cannot pretend they are immune to the same globalising forces that are perhaps more advanced in Britain.
Many French farmers practise similar ultra-efficient agricultural methods.
Britain may have exported tonnes of contaminated animal feed, which may have carried mad cow disease, but French farmers were happy to buy it. The more philosophically-minded here weigh the two sides up. We were lucky it didn't.