Why the Rafale?

Hi to everyonne,

I have a question to you military aviation buffs: why is it that the French pulled out of the EF project and proceeded to develop their own plane, the Rafale?

I have read a couple of things on this on the web. English sites argue that this is simply due to french arrogance. I have no reason to doubt english assessments of the French ( 😀 ), yet I was wondering what other factors may have led the French to take that decision: were they mostly of a political nature, were they due to conceptual/technical considerations, were they of a military nature…..??!

Thanks for the response/info!!