France to press on with integration, says Chirac: Damage control move after ‘No’ vote
PARIS, May 30: French President Jacques Chirac tried on Monday to limit the damage from his people’s rejection of the European Union constitution while the leaders of the 25-nation bloc battled to keep the new charter alive. Mr Chirac spoke to several EU partners to reassure them that France, for decades one of the Union’s main pillars, wanted to press on with deeper European integration despite the crushing defeat in Sunday’s referendum.
The Union’s leaders urged other countries to continue ratifying the constitution which is designed to ensure the enlarged bloc runs smoothly and to prevent decision-making being paralysed. But their problems mounted after the publication of three opinion polls showing Dutch voters are still firmly on course to turn down the constitution in a referendum on Wednesday.
“It’s always been said in the Netherlands we should not become Europe’s village idiot by voting ‘No’. This will give the Dutch more confidence to say ‘No’ to this constitution,” Dutch Socialist Harry van Bommel said of the French rejection. The EU’s first constitution requires the backing of all member states to go into force. A Dutch rejection would make it harder for EU leaders to call repeat votes in countries that oppose the charter and could deal it a fatal blow.
Nine countries representing nearly half the EU’s 454 million citizens have already approved the constitution. Mr Chirac, 72, consulted his top ministers and spoke to his EU allies as he tried to come to terms with Sunday’s outcome, in which almost 55 percent of voters opposed the charter.
He left little doubt that he would dismiss Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and appoint a new government to respond to people who used the vote to show their discontent with high unemployment and other economic policies.
Mr Raffarin’s staff were already packing their belongings into boxes at the prime minister’s office. Contenders to replace Mr Raffarin are led by Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, a loyal ally, and former Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival for the presidency.
PHONE DIPLOMACY: Voters in France rejected their leaders’ record on the economy as well as refusing the economic model enshrined in the constitution, which critics say is too “free-market” and does not offer workers enough protection.
Mr Chirac told several EU leaders by telephone that the process of ratifying the charter must continue across the bloc. “He confirmed that France, a founding member of the European Union, would continue to work with its partners in the spirit of European construction,” his spokesman said.
Not all leaders in EU countries agree. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a Eurosceptic whose country is yet to decide whether to back the charter, declared it “a thing of the past”.—Reuters
