Chirac is the sick man of Europe, say French By c (Filed: 17/06/2005) Weakened and more unpopular than any French head of state in half a century, President Jacques Chirac was yesterday branded "the sick man of Europe" in his own country. Before leaving Paris for the European Union summit in Brussels, Mr Chirac suffered the ignominy of seeing his enfeebled state highlighted in the press. Opinion polls since the May 29 No vote on the EU constitution put his approval rating lower than any president since Gen Charles de Gaulle ushered in France's Fifth Republic in 1958. Even his...