France votes on EU charter
 |  President Jacques Chirac casts his referendum vote in Sarran, southwestern France. |
| |
| | EU CONSTITUTION | * Permanent EU president to replace six-month rotating presidencies
* EU foreign minister to conduct common foreign policy
* Qualified majority voting in most areas with vetoes limited
* Commission to be reduced to 15 with 10 non-voting associates
* Policy areas covered by European Parliament up from 34 to 70
* Legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights
|
|
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Voters in mainland France began casting their ballots Sunday on a proposed landmark constitution for Europe.
The new constitution must be approved by all 25 European Union members, either by parliament or by referendum, before it can take effect in 2006.
Voters are being asked whether they approve of the proposed law that would ratify the treaty establishing the constitution.
Opinion polls indicate there is a chance the referendum will fail in France, although some analysts believe supporters have gained ground.
Backers contend the constitution, which EU leaders signed last October, will strengthen Europe and France, make EU operations more efficient and let Europe speak with one voice on global issues. Among other things, the constitution would make the euro the official currency.
Opponents worry about losing national identity and sovereignty, and the influx of cheap labor -- just as France struggles to reduce high unemployment.
Germany became the ninth country to ratify the constitution when the upper house of parliament voted Friday in favor of the treaty that embodies it. Germany followed Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain in approving the text. The Dutch vote Wednesday.
If the measure fails, the treaty -- designed to make Europe operate more efficiently -- will be of no consequence. It was drawn up by a 200-person panel of parliamentarians headed by Valery Giscard d'Estaing, a former president of France.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) on Sunday, and close at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET), except in the cities of Paris and Lyon, which close two hours later (4 p.m. ET).
French territories began voting Saturday, and those results are to be announced Sunday night, when polls close in France's largest cities. There are nearly 42 million registered voters.
The vote has become more of a referendum on the record of President Jacques Chirac and his government, according to CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley. He has said that Chirac has failed to convince the French to support his enthusiastic vision of Europe's future.
In a televised broadcast Thursday, Chirac made a passionate appeal to the French not to turn the referendum into a decree on the popularity of his government.
"If the French vote 'no,' most analysts believe it would destroy any possibility of Chirac standing again for the presidency in 2007," Oakley has said.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who holds the rotating EU presidency, said a "no" vote would be a disaster for Europe.
The "no" camp held its lead in the final opinion polls.
But the political temperature was raised by suggestions in one opinion poll that the "no" vote -- seen as comfortably ahead -- had slipped in the final hours of campaigning after Chirac's passionate TV appeal.
Anout 1.5 million voters in French overseas territories voted on Saturday.
The first to vote were residents of St. Pierre and Miquelon -- a group of rugged, wind-swept fishing islands south of Newfoundland, Canada. The islands are France's last enclave in North America.
Other territories to vote ahead of mainland France included Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, and Tahiti and New Caledonia in the South Pacific.
As Germany officially ratified the new constitution in parliament without a public vote, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a close Chirac ally, urged the French to back the treaty. (Germany approves charter)
"If we want to play our role in the world, if we want to take decisions and not see them imposed by others, if we want to keep our European social model, we can do only so with a strong and united Europe," he wrote in Saturday's Le Figaro newspaper.
"The European constitution lays the foundations," he added.
A poll by Ifop research group Friday showed the "No" camp on 56 percent support. But a survey by CSA polling group showed 52 percent of voters who have decided how to vote will oppose the charter, a drop of 3 percentage points since Thursday.
The CSA poll put supporters of the treaty on 48 percent, a figure that rose to 49 percent among voters questioned on Friday -- one day after Chirac made a final televised plea to voters to back the constitution.
The constitution is intended to make the EU work more smoothly following its enlargement last year.
Supporters say the constitution will help make Europe and France stronger. Opponents say it enshrines economic policies that have failed to stop the loss of jobs to low-wage economies.
As well as Chancellor Schroeder Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also lent his support at a rally for the "yes" camp.
Polls in the Netherlands, which holds its own referendum on the constitution on Wednesday, suggest the "no" camp is leading by 60-40 percent.
Chirac appeal
On Thursday, French President Jacques Chirac made his solemn, last-ditch effort on television to convince the French to vote "yes."
"On Sunday, each of us will have a part of France's destiny in their hands," he said.
"What a responsibility if France, a founder nation of Europe, took the risk of breaking the union of our continent."
A European Commission spokesman confirmed that the ratification process for the constitution would go ahead regardless of the outcome of referendums in France and in the Netherlands.
| THE BALLOT | The question to voters:
"Do you approve the proposed law authorizing the ratification of the treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe?"
The mechanics:
Voters are given two slips of paper marked "Oui" and "Non." They put one in a sealed envelope, which they place in a ballot box.
|
| |
"The procedures have been completed in nine countries representing over 220 million citizens. That is almost 49 percent of EU population. The Commission thinks this is a very important reason why the ratification procedures should go forward," Mikolaj Dowgielewicz told The Associated Press.
If the "No" camp wins, Chirac would suffer the humiliation of becoming only the second leader, after Gen. Charles de Gaulle, to lose a referendum since the founding of the French Fifth Republic in 1958.
The president has said he would not resign if the French vote "no."
But he hinted that he might respond to calls to sack his unpopular Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and make policy changes. "During this debate, Europe has not been the only issue. Concerns and expectations have been expressed.
"I am fully aware of this. I will respond by giving a new impetus to our action," he said. He gave no details.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
