Most French Would Vote Against EU Constitution - Poll

The Scotsman..com ^ | March 18, 2005 | Staff

[WmShirerAdmirer]

For the first time, an opinion poll to be published today suggests that most French would vote against the EU Constitution as a national referendum on the charter looms this spring.

Fifty-one percent of respondents in the poll conducted for Le Parisien newspaper said they would oppose the constitution if a vote were held today, with 49% in favour.

Most recent polls have shown solid support in the “yes” camp – which includes President Jacques Chirac and the opposition Socialist Party – but that momentum was rising among the charter’s opponents.

The poll of 802 registered voters was conducted March 16-17 by CSA polling agency. No margin of error was given, but polls of this size usually have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The political class was quick to react. Nicolas Sarkozy, the popular head of Chirac’s centre-right party, stepped up his calls for a “yes” vote at a party gathering in Strasbourg.

“A ’no’ vote in the referendum would be a gigantic mistake for France,” he said, asked about the poll numbers. “France is the future of Europe, and Europe is the future of France.”

Yesterday, the government said it expects to spend about 130 million euros (£90 million) to organise the May 29 referendum – mostly to pay for the printing and mailing of voter information packets.

For the first time since France’s Fifth Republic was founded in 1958, the state will reimburse political parties for costs incurred in a referendum campaign.

Chirac gave way to pressure from the charter’s opponents yesterday with the first public financing for parties in a nationwide referendum.

Chirac wanted to “give them the means to be able to participate effectively in a grand national debate, and present their arguments to the French,” said government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope.

The measures, shown yesterday to the Cabinet, include allowing France’s 55,000 polling places to stay open as late as 10pm as a way to encourage voter turnout in the May 29 referendum. The government set May 16-28 as the period for the official campaign.

[WmShirerAdmirer]

Interesting development.

[Mr. Mojo]

asked about the poll numbers. “France is the future of Europe"

Actually, Islam is the future of Europe.

[ARCADIA]

EU....Tic-Toc-Tic-Toc-Tic-Toc....????????

[Shermy]

“France is the future of Europe,"

Can you imagine a Dane saying "Denmark is the future of Europe?"

Arrogance.

[WmShirerAdmirer]

Many would agree with you.

Please, any Conservative Frenchmen or Europeans reading FR and this posted article, share your sentiments.

[Spktyr]

Any way you look at it, collapse, bedlam, and violence are the future of Europe; as well as its past. At least the Western part - the Easterners seem to have a pretty good idea of what NOT to do.

[jdm]

"Actually, Islam is the future of Europe."

And Islam is the future of FRANCE!

[Mr. Mojo]

Yeah, that was what I meant to say in my original post.

There'll no doubt be a few European nations that will have the fortitude to resist Islam.

...but France isn't one of them.

[a freedom-loving italian]

Please, any Conservative Frenchmen or Europeans reading FR and this posted article, share your sentiments.

Here I Am:
1) When Nicolas Sarkozy says "France is the future of Europe" he means it. EU has clearly a franco-german agenda which entails the building of a political superpower aimed at "counterbalancing" the US while being based on the franco-german leadership. Here's the evidence: franco-german strong opposition to the WOT, France & Germany being allowed to ignore the 3% limit on gvt decifit while all the other EU members are not, ECB policy of a strong currency, and so on.
2) Nobody here in Europe knows much about the EU Constitution. That's because the Constituion is the result of an obscure work by some overpaid elitist bureaucrats and the result is not easy to grasp: more that 500 pages of text!
3) By the way, here's TWO things about the EU Constitution that you can tell for sure: A) there is no reference whatsoever to the Judeo-Christian values or contribution to the European culture B) the approval of the Constitution would be a major step toward a European Socialist Superstar which will severely harm everyone's freedom
4) That's why I strongly hope that the EU draft constitution will be DAMPED by every freedom-loving European and I'm expecially counting on the Brits to do the job. Actually I can't understand why the UK has not yet abandoned the EU as the agenda of turning the EU from a free-trade area to a franco-german led political superstate is well underway.

Cheers

[Earthdweller]

"A) there is no reference whatsoever to the Judeo-Christian values or contribution to the European culture..."

Thank you for that comment. It's only the second time I have seen this mentioned about the lengthy document. With all the verbiage it contains, this was no doubt a deliberate omission.

May God Bless you.

[Dilbert56]

Gee:

• Western Europe overrun (by Islamicists).
• The United Kingdom hanging on by its fingernails (only a last-ditch regulation requiring immigrants to speak English allowed them to survive).
• The United States and Australia allying themselves with the UK.
• Russia, although still hating the U.S., is grateful for its help in stopping the invasion.

Sound familiar? This time, the loser gets France.