Surviving the French swindle (7)
I believe the answer is:
lasting
'surviving' is the definition.
('last' can be a synonym of 'survive')
'the french swindle' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'la'.
'swindle' becomes 'sting' (sting is a kind of swindle).
'la'+'sting'='LASTING'
(Other definitions for lasting that I've seen before include "Evergreen" , "Long-lived" , "Enduring" , "Abiding, durable" , "long-term" .)