An Interesting Vote

As a Brit my focus on the European Constitution tends to be on the referendum to be held in the UK. It currently seems as if the French referendum may provide a more interesting spectacle however. The French Socialist Party are considering whether or not to back the treaty and there are grave warnings of the consequences of not doing so.

Dominique Strauss Kahn, former finance minister and one of the French Socialist Party's most senior figures, has told the Financial Times and Les Echos that if the French socialists were to vote against the EU Constitution in an internal referendum next week, Europe could breakdown.

With such a major prize at stake, we should all be impatient to get into the task. I am not sure if he is right but I certainly hope so. But what are the chances.

The French Socialist party is divided over whether to recommend ratification of the EU s new Constitutional Treaty, which Chirac has promised will be put to the public in a referendum next year. Laurent Fabius, who allied himself with the left of the party, says the proposed Constitution is a capitalists charter, which would impose a liberal model at odds with the values of the party.

Not quite the complaint that I had with it, but all contributions are gratefully received. The polite and friendly Monsieur Chirac is of the opinion that support by the Socialist Party is essential.

A French referendum on the proposed EU Constitution would likely be lost if it was being held today, Jacques Chirac warned Tony Blair during his visit to Britain last week. If the vote was held today, we would lose it, he reportedly said. The outcome of an internal vote by the Socialist Party on 1 December about whether they want to support the Constitution will go a long way to determining the result of the French referendum, which could take place as early as May 2005.

We await the outcome of the Socialist party vote with anticipation, although I am sure that the project will win out in the land that hatched it.