Actually, yes. When the European project began, it was pushed by French politicians and it was French politics that held most importance before German reunification. For the French politicians, and more broadly the Gaullists, the European project was the new way for France to become a superpower.

It began first with De Gaulle who wanted France to be an "alternate" power, meaning something between industrialized power and superpower as the USSR and the US. It kinda worked since Kennedy's trip to Europe had only one head of State to meet before meeting the Russians : De Gaulle.

Then, Mitterrand and Chirac clearly meant for more integration. For example, the Saint Malo agreement between Chirac and Blair was supposed to create more cooperation between French and British militaries with a European scope attached to it. What shot the deal was the Iraq War and British alignment with US policy.

There was even a time when everyone spoke French in the European institutions, and we can see it today when we look at the middle-aged and older politicians in the EU : they know French, they learnt it when they were younger because at this time French was a necessary language in European politics. It changed, as the article said it, with the Eastern Europeans's arrival.

Now the influence is German. I don't doubt that French politicians and decision-makers have shadowy ways to exert influence, and that the French State is able to weigh in decisions in a less official manner. But that still shows our public which was used to being represented by the driving force of Europe and the most pro-integration people that things have changed, and that can make people frustrated.