[hegtor]

France has a culture of "universalism" which dates back to the Lumières period which can be seen as one of the roots to this attitude.

This cultural tendency is very visible when you compare the way France handled colonies compared to the UK : France tended to impose its value to "enlighten" colonised countries, while the UK srayed much more in the realms of economic exploitation without getting so involved in trying to impose british culture and values.