J-10
12-02-2004, 09:10 PM
Socialists in France give lift to EU charter
By Katrin Bennhold and Graham Bowley International Herald Tribune Friday, December 3, 2004
PARIS A resounding vote in favor of the European Union constitution by France's opposition Socialist Party was welcomed Thursday across a Continent that faces a string of national referendums on the treaty next year.
.
After three months of fierce debate between high-profile advocates and opponents of the constitution, an unexpected 59 percent of card-carrying Socialists endorsed the document in a late-night ballot on Wednesday, a result that was the stronger for a turnout of 80 percent.
.
At a press conference on Thursday, the leader of the Socialist Party, François Hollande, said the vote was an example for the rest of Europe.
.
"The Socialists have opened the way for the ratification process in all of Europe," said Hollande, who had led the campaign in favor of the treaty. "They have sent the best signal possible to mobilize the trust of Europeans in their common future."
.
The treaty, which was signed by EU leaders in Rome in October, needs ratification by all 25 member states by October 2006 if it is to be adopted.
.
Supporters of increased European integration said Thursday that they hoped the French vote would help turn around skeptical public opinion and increase the odds of the treaty's acceptance by all countries.
.
In Brussels, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said: "The positive signal given by French Socialist Party members will have resonance across the European Union. It is part of what is now a trans-European debate on the kind of Europe we want."
.
The constitution would simplify the EU's existing treaties and proposes deeper integration in several areas, like providing Europe with a single foreign minister and developing a common foreign policy.
.
It has already been approved by the Lithuanian Parliament and is likely to pass in other countries, like Italy. But it faces the fierce test of national referendums in 11 countries, and polls suggest that it could fall at this hurdle. Referendums are to be held in Belgium, Denmark, France, Portugal, Spain and other countries.
.
The French decision will notably focus debate in Britain, among the most euroskeptical of nations, where Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised a popular vote by 2006. But Blair has remained wary of the sensitive issue of Britain's involvement in Europe, which tore past governments apart, and he has not begun campaigning in its favor.
.
Polls suggest British voters would reject the constitution if it were put to a referendum now. According to John Palmer, director of the European Policy Center in Brussels, "yes" votes in all other 24 member states would still not sway the British public.
.
Pro-integrationists believe the constitution would survive a rejection in a small European nation, but fear that it would be hurt fatally if voters reject it in a large nation at the heart of Europe, like France, Britain or even the Netherlands, a founding member of the EU, where opinion is turning against the constitution.
.
On Thursday, Martin Schulz of Germany, the Socialist group's leader in the European Parliament, welcomed the outcome in France. "This vote is a very important step forward for ratification of the constitution, both in France and in Europe," he said. "It is indeed good news for progressive forces throughout Europe."
.
But later a spokeswoman for Barroso took a cooler line, pointing out that the French party vote was an internal matter for one political movement in one member state only.
.
The Socialists' "yes" vote capped a momentous week in French politics, played out against a backdrop of ceremonies marking the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's coronation as emperor. On Monday, Nicolas Sarkozy resigned as finance minister after taking the helm of President Jacques Chirac's governing center-right party, a position widely seen as a springboard for the country's presidency. On Wednesday an appeals court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence of a former prime minister, Alain Juppé, in a decade-old party-financing scandal, raising the possibility that he could return to political life within a year. On Thursday, Juppé resigned as mayor of Bordeaux but did not rule out a political comeback.
.
The "yes" vote reaffirmed the French Socialist Party's pro-European tradition and avoided a politically dangerous turn to the left ahead of the next presidential election, in 2007, analysts said.
.
Laurent Fabius, the party's No. 2 and the lead campaigner for the "no" vote, had tried to rally the party behind him by calling the constitution too free-market-oriented and not "social" enough. While the criticism struck a chord with many of his fellow Socialists worried to see their generous French social model fall victim to an enlarged EU, Hollande's warning that France would find itself isolated and unable to shape Europe from the fringes if it voted "no," appeared to outweigh those concerns.
.
After leading his party to victory in regional and European ballots earlier this year, Hollande now looks well positioned to become its presidential candidate, according to Brice Teinturier, director of political studies at the Sofres polling institute. Fabius, who until recently had a reputation for being on the modern, more market-oriented fringe of the Socialist Party, was the biggest loser of the vote on Wednesday. Having staked his future political ambition on a "no" vote, the former prime minister was dealt a humiliating blow from which he may never recover, Teinturier said.
.
But Hollande is not the only beneficiary of the "yes" vote. It also comes as a relief to Chirac himself, who backs the constitution and who has scheduled a national referendum on the treaty next year.
.
"The two winners of this referendum are François Hollande and Jacques Chirac," Teinturier said. "It will make for an interesting presidential race in 2007."
.
.
.
Katrin Bennhold reported from Paris and Graham Bowley from Brussels.
.
Czech leader sees a threat
.
President Vaclav Klaus said Thursday that the EU constitution threatened democracy in Europe, and he criticized the Czech government for endorsing the document without a thorough discussion, The Associated Press reported in Prague.
.
"I have the feeling that steps like the constitution are threatening democracy, freedom and prosperity in Europe," Klaus said in an interview with Czech radio.
.
"That concerns me very much, because, in the past, they were threatened by all kind of 'isms,"' he said. He said a threat was present in "what I call Europe-ism, incarnated in the constitution."
.
Klaus said that by shifting many powers to a center far from the citizens and by "excessive harmonization and standardization, we threaten the very essence" of Europe.
.
It is not clear whether the document will be ratified by Parliament or by a referendum in the Czech Republic, which joined the EU on May 1 along with nine other mostly former Communist nations.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/02/news/france.html
By Katrin Bennhold and Graham Bowley International Herald Tribune Friday, December 3, 2004
PARIS A resounding vote in favor of the European Union constitution by France's opposition Socialist Party was welcomed Thursday across a Continent that faces a string of national referendums on the treaty next year.
.
After three months of fierce debate between high-profile advocates and opponents of the constitution, an unexpected 59 percent of card-carrying Socialists endorsed the document in a late-night ballot on Wednesday, a result that was the stronger for a turnout of 80 percent.
.
At a press conference on Thursday, the leader of the Socialist Party, François Hollande, said the vote was an example for the rest of Europe.
.
"The Socialists have opened the way for the ratification process in all of Europe," said Hollande, who had led the campaign in favor of the treaty. "They have sent the best signal possible to mobilize the trust of Europeans in their common future."
.
The treaty, which was signed by EU leaders in Rome in October, needs ratification by all 25 member states by October 2006 if it is to be adopted.
.
Supporters of increased European integration said Thursday that they hoped the French vote would help turn around skeptical public opinion and increase the odds of the treaty's acceptance by all countries.
.
In Brussels, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said: "The positive signal given by French Socialist Party members will have resonance across the European Union. It is part of what is now a trans-European debate on the kind of Europe we want."
.
The constitution would simplify the EU's existing treaties and proposes deeper integration in several areas, like providing Europe with a single foreign minister and developing a common foreign policy.
.
It has already been approved by the Lithuanian Parliament and is likely to pass in other countries, like Italy. But it faces the fierce test of national referendums in 11 countries, and polls suggest that it could fall at this hurdle. Referendums are to be held in Belgium, Denmark, France, Portugal, Spain and other countries.
.
The French decision will notably focus debate in Britain, among the most euroskeptical of nations, where Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised a popular vote by 2006. But Blair has remained wary of the sensitive issue of Britain's involvement in Europe, which tore past governments apart, and he has not begun campaigning in its favor.
.
Polls suggest British voters would reject the constitution if it were put to a referendum now. According to John Palmer, director of the European Policy Center in Brussels, "yes" votes in all other 24 member states would still not sway the British public.
.
Pro-integrationists believe the constitution would survive a rejection in a small European nation, but fear that it would be hurt fatally if voters reject it in a large nation at the heart of Europe, like France, Britain or even the Netherlands, a founding member of the EU, where opinion is turning against the constitution.
.
On Thursday, Martin Schulz of Germany, the Socialist group's leader in the European Parliament, welcomed the outcome in France. "This vote is a very important step forward for ratification of the constitution, both in France and in Europe," he said. "It is indeed good news for progressive forces throughout Europe."
.
But later a spokeswoman for Barroso took a cooler line, pointing out that the French party vote was an internal matter for one political movement in one member state only.
.
The Socialists' "yes" vote capped a momentous week in French politics, played out against a backdrop of ceremonies marking the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's coronation as emperor. On Monday, Nicolas Sarkozy resigned as finance minister after taking the helm of President Jacques Chirac's governing center-right party, a position widely seen as a springboard for the country's presidency. On Wednesday an appeals court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence of a former prime minister, Alain Juppé, in a decade-old party-financing scandal, raising the possibility that he could return to political life within a year. On Thursday, Juppé resigned as mayor of Bordeaux but did not rule out a political comeback.
.
The "yes" vote reaffirmed the French Socialist Party's pro-European tradition and avoided a politically dangerous turn to the left ahead of the next presidential election, in 2007, analysts said.
.
Laurent Fabius, the party's No. 2 and the lead campaigner for the "no" vote, had tried to rally the party behind him by calling the constitution too free-market-oriented and not "social" enough. While the criticism struck a chord with many of his fellow Socialists worried to see their generous French social model fall victim to an enlarged EU, Hollande's warning that France would find itself isolated and unable to shape Europe from the fringes if it voted "no," appeared to outweigh those concerns.
.
After leading his party to victory in regional and European ballots earlier this year, Hollande now looks well positioned to become its presidential candidate, according to Brice Teinturier, director of political studies at the Sofres polling institute. Fabius, who until recently had a reputation for being on the modern, more market-oriented fringe of the Socialist Party, was the biggest loser of the vote on Wednesday. Having staked his future political ambition on a "no" vote, the former prime minister was dealt a humiliating blow from which he may never recover, Teinturier said.
.
But Hollande is not the only beneficiary of the "yes" vote. It also comes as a relief to Chirac himself, who backs the constitution and who has scheduled a national referendum on the treaty next year.
.
"The two winners of this referendum are François Hollande and Jacques Chirac," Teinturier said. "It will make for an interesting presidential race in 2007."
.
.
.
Katrin Bennhold reported from Paris and Graham Bowley from Brussels.
.
Czech leader sees a threat
.
President Vaclav Klaus said Thursday that the EU constitution threatened democracy in Europe, and he criticized the Czech government for endorsing the document without a thorough discussion, The Associated Press reported in Prague.
.
"I have the feeling that steps like the constitution are threatening democracy, freedom and prosperity in Europe," Klaus said in an interview with Czech radio.
.
"That concerns me very much, because, in the past, they were threatened by all kind of 'isms,"' he said. He said a threat was present in "what I call Europe-ism, incarnated in the constitution."
.
Klaus said that by shifting many powers to a center far from the citizens and by "excessive harmonization and standardization, we threaten the very essence" of Europe.
.
It is not clear whether the document will be ratified by Parliament or by a referendum in the Czech Republic, which joined the EU on May 1 along with nine other mostly former Communist nations.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/02/news/france.html