Constitution foes fear for France's soul
By Tom Hundley Tribune foreign correspondent
Thu May 26, 9:40 AM ET
Such are the depths of Francois Vincent's disdain for the new European constitution that he recently uttered words that have not passed the lips of many Frenchmen.
"I would rather be an American than a European," said Vincent, 63, who owns a vegetable stall in one of Paris' open-air markets. "At least Americans love their country."
Like many Frenchmen who plan to vote "no" in this Sunday's referendum, he is worried that the new European constitution will rob France of some vital piece of its national soul.
Didier Vernet, 53, a stallholder in the same market on Boulevard Raspail, thinks that's nuts.
"Do you think the French will be stupid enough to vote `no'?" he said with a disdain to match Vincent's. "That would really be going backwards."
The French referendum Sunday and another one three days later in the Netherlands have unexpectedly turned into a crisis for the architects of the European Union. Voters in both countries appear ready to ignore the pleadings of their elected leaders and reject the turgid 448-article draft that is supposed to serve as a constitution for the EU's 25 member states.
Thus far, 10 member states have approved the constitution, but only one, Spain, did so by referendum. The others ratified it in their national legislatures.
The draft constitution streamlines decision-making for the EU and gives it a stronger defense and foreign policy. The draft must be accepted by every member state before it becomes law.
The French and the Dutch have long been among the most enthusiastic supporters of the European project. When French President Jacques Chirac opted to put the constitution to a referendum rather than a legislative vote, he assumed it would be an easy sell. It now looms as the biggest miscalculation of his long political career.
Polls: `No' camp leads
Opinion polls over the past month have consistently shown the "no" camp with a steady lead in the range of 51 percent to 54 percent. The only hope for constitution supporters is that a quarter of voters say they have not yet made up their minds.
Chirac's center-right government, the opposition Socialist Party and most of the French political and intellectual establishment support the new constitution, arguing that a "no" vote will cripple the European project and cost France its place at the very heart of Europe.
The opposition comes in all political stripes: dissident socialists who fear the new constitution will end France's welfare state; Catholic nationalists angry that the document makes no mention of God; trade unions that fear it will export jobs to Eastern Europe; far-right followers of Jean-Marie Le Pen who think a "no" vote will keep Turkey out of the EU; anti-globos who argue that the document is a plot for the corporate takeover of Europe.
Bruno Jeanbart, an analyst with CSA, a polling group, said support for the European constitution is strongest among voters under 25 and over 60.
"The young voters feel that Europe is their future. They are less nationalistic and they see themselves as citizens of the world," he said. "Older people remember the period of war in Europe. They think a `yes' vote is not for them, but for their children and grandchildren."
Voters' attitudes toward the new constitution also break sharply along socioeconomic lines, with blue-collar workers and others with lower levels of education tending to fall into the "no" camp. Residents of rural areas also tend to be leery of the new document, even though French farmers have been the main beneficiaries of EU agricultural subsidies.
"The `no' is winning, but it is too early to declare victory because so many are undecided," Jeanbart said. "Many people want to say no because they don't understand the text. They haven't read it. It feels risky to say yes to something like this, but in the end I think many of these people will abstain."
Benefits hard to articulate
Dominique Reynie, an analyst with the National Foundation of Political Science in Paris, said the "yes" camp has had difficulty articulating any immediate benefit the constitution would bring to ordinary citizens, while opponents have 448 articles to pick apart.
"The `yes' camp speaks about an idea. It speaks about the future and how we will be stronger in the face of competition from China and India and the U.S. For the `no' camp, it's easy to attack the text on a point-by-point basis," he said.
Chirac has told voters that rejecting the constitution would weaken the French way of life and play into British (and American) designs for a weak European Union. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warned that a "no" vote in France would mean "Europe's voice would weaken, it would have trouble making itself heard," while Romano Prodi, former head of the European Commission, said a French rejection would be tantamount to "the fall of Europe."
Opponents of the constitution say these fears are overblown.
"People are not voting against Europe. They are voting against a constitution . . . that has 448 articles and is completely incomprehensible to them," said Jean-Pierre Chevenement, a former Socialist defense minister and leader of a breakaway faction that opposes the constitution.
Meanwhile, the debate along Boulevard Raspail's open-air market went on even after the merchants began closing their stalls for the afternoon.
Vernet, the stallholder who supports the constitution, is confident that Chirac, who is to address the nation Thursday evening--one last time before the vote--would be able to make the sale.
"The one who speaks last always wins," he said.
But Vincent, who would rather be an American than a European, said he would never change his mind.
"They say [the constitution] is for democracy, but I think it will be a dictatorship," he said. "We'll all be put in boxes; we'll lose our country."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/chitribts/constitutionfoesfearforfrancessoul&printer=1
.02c in today's world doesn't buy anything - in our neighborhood.
