Little appetite for battle over EU treaty

Little appetite for battle over EU treaty

By Ben Hall in Paris

Published: February 4 2008 01:03 | Last updated: February 4 2008 01:03

France’s parliamentarians will on Monday draw a line under their country’s ambivalence towards Europe when they vote to approve the European Union’s Lisbon treaty.

Nearly three years after French voters shocked the political establishment and stunned the rest of Europe by rejecting the EU constitution, deputies and senators will gather in a special ­session at the palace of ­Versailles aimed at putting France back at the heart of the bloc.

Legislators will vote to amend the French constitution in line with the Lisbon treaty, prior to parliamentary ratification on Wednesday and Thursday.

The constitutional amendment, which requires 60 per cent support, is a foregone conclusion because the opposition Socialists will mostly abstain, while the vast majority for the centre-right UMP party of Nicolas Sarkozy, the president, will vote in favour.

Nevertheless, the occasion will mark an extraordinary turnround in the French debate – mainly because the public will not have a say.

In February 2005, parliamentarians gathered in ­Versailles to approve the EU constitution before plunging into a highly divisive three-month referendum campaign that ended with a No vote of 55 per cent.

This time the issue will be wrapped up in four days and without a public vote.

The demand for a fresh referendum has not gone away. According to one recent opinion poll, 58 per cent want a plebiscite on the new treaty. The Socialists and far-left and far-right ­parties have continued to campaign for one.

Mr Sarkozy ran for the presidency on a promise of a simplified treaty ratified by the French parliament. In an unusually blunt speech in Paris last week, he spelt out his reasons for not holding a referendum.

Another French No would be “catastrophic for Europe” and risk France’s “exclusion from European integration”. Moreover, if France held a referendum it would force Britain to do so. Failure to ratify the Lisbon treaty would leave Europe “condemned”, he said.

Jean-Dominique Giuliani, chairman of the Fondation Robert Schuman, a pro-European think-tank based in Paris, said the broader economic and political context had also changed.

The 2005 referendum coincided with the political and economic nadir of Jacques Chirac’s presidency. The no vote was partly punishment of an unpopular and remote president and partly an anti-capitalist backlash.

France’s economic prospects now appeared brighter than in 2005, despite the threat of a slowdown, and the country now had more dynamic leadership. “The French find that Sarkozy is more active in defending French interests in Europe,” Mr Giuliani said.

Pro-European sentiment in France had risen by eight points over the past 12 months, according to the latest Eurobarometer poll, he said. “The French tasted ­isolation in Europe in recent years and, like the British, they did not like it.”

The political debate about Europe has been confined to the Socialist party, where it continues to sew division.

The party leadership has backed the Lisbon treaty but maintained its demand for a referendum, under pressure from the left wing.

To bridge their differences, the Socialists have taken the confusing position of abstaining over the constitutional amendment but supporting the treaty.

However, even on the ­centre-left, the appetite for an ideological battle appears to have dimmed.

Michel Sapin, the former Socialist budget minister said Europe inflicted periodic discord on his party and the present phase was losing its heat.

“It is the tail of the comet,” he said.