I transited French airspace twice yesterday.
Not a single controller listened to any read back or corrected the three incorrect read backs we heard, not a single controller listened to our initial contact messages containing info like where we were direct to, what our cruise level request was etc. One called us easyxxx twice before we managed to convince him we were from a different company and there was plenty of French only chat.
They only transmit, they don’t listen to what comes before or after. It seems to be policy because almost all of them do it.