EU: European Parliament members warned French citizens yesterday of the danger, as they saw it, of voting No to the proposed EU constitution in a referendum in France on May 29th.
A string of opinion polls has shown a solid majority of French voters plan to reject the treaty, mostly because of popular discontent with the centre-right government and stagnant economicgrowth.
In opinion polls yesterday, 53 per cent of those surveyed for Le Figaro newspaper said they would reject the treaty, while 47 per cent would vote Yes.
A separate poll by the CSA institute for Le Bleu de Profession Politique newsletter showed 54 per cent would vote No, and 46% Yes.
"There's a tough and aggressive atmosphere," German Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit said yesterday of the referendum campaign in France, which he described as "going very badly".
Last week he was pelted with eggs and heckled at a campaign meeting in Montpellier.
The treaty seeks to make Europe work more effectively following last year's enlargement to 25 countries by simplifying decision-making and creating a more stable leadership. It requires the approval of all member-states.
However, there is widespread fear that a French No vote could create a ripple effect, swaying a June 1st Dutch referendum against the treaty and spreading across Europe to Poland, the Czech Republic and Britain.
The European Union assembly's Socialist group leader, Martin Schulz, said 50 French-speaking EU lawmakers would fan out across France to explain the constitution.
Nearly seven out of 10 British finance directors are opposed to Britain adopting the constitution, according to an opinion poll in yesterday's Financial Times. Of 200 directors questioned by Mori, 30 per cent "strongly opposed" the treaty, with a further 38 per cent "generally opposed" but open to persuasion. - (Reuters)