Speak Up Jacques

The French love affair with Brussels is on the wane and the man to change that is apparently the Great Statesman Chirac.

President Jacques Chirac of France was under pressure on Sunday night to get more involved in campaigning for a Yes vote in May's referendum on the European constitution as a second opinion poll in a week showed hardening public opposition to the treaty.

Another Day, another poll, another panic.

In a poll to be published in Le Figaro on Monday, 52 per cent of those who said they planned to vote in the referendum on May 29 are against the treaty, compared with 40 per cent in early March.

As all poll watchers know, absolute numbers are not so important but trends are what tell you the most. The trend in France looks very clear. A French rejection would kill the treaty stone dead meaning:

Without the constitution, the EU would be left with an outdated and complicated voting system and would be less able to act on the world stage: plans to create an EU foreign minister and full-time president would collapse.

Or alternatively: We would have won a very small victory against the unasked for, unwanted superstate project. As for the EU Foreign minister, what does it matter, the foreign affairs ministry is already in place.