In my head cannon...
Frozenstrom happened. Whatever made it happen, happened. Let's move beyond intent and perceptions that allowed it to happen and look at the results.
Prior to Frozenstrom, as far as Disney was concerned people (read: fams with kids) won't go to Epcot and won't make World Showcase a priority. They have no data points that say so, and so it's simply not a thing.
So now they do go and it's a highlight of their trip. And being Epcot, there's high guest spending and yadda yadda. Disney realizes they can put money in World Showcase and get money back.
So the wheels start turning. Where to build? France/Japan/UK are prime spots to balance things out. France and Japan have the best layouts for expansion, France has a ride that could be plopped in quickly thematically.
And France is right next to a new transport system that they want to promote at a little used back entrance of the park to drive DVC sales at two resort expansions.