French warned to keep EU out of election debate

Germany’s foreign minister has warned the French presidential hopefuls not to use the EU constitution as a campaign tool.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier told FT Europe that Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal must not scupper Berlin’s attempts to resurrect the constitution text in a bid to score political points.

“We appeal to all those involved that they remain open enough to give this reform process a chance,” Steinemeier told the paper.

The rejection of the EU constitution in 2005 was widely blamed on French voters’ discontent with their domestic politicians rather than disagreement with the text itself.

And French leaders have already begun to turn on the EU again, with finance minister Thierry Breton - a supporter of Sarkozy - joining Royal in criticising the European central bank.

They claim that repeated interest rate rises by the ECB are to blame for the weak French economy - even though other eurozone economies are booming.

There is widespread agreement that any attempts to kickstart the debate on the future of Europe will have to wait until the results of the election in France in May.

Sarkozy has made it clear that he is keen to press ahead with some parts of the constitution – issues such as an EU foreign minister or permanent president – if he replaces Jacques Chirac as president.

But he remains opposed to some parts of the text, and in particular the question of further enlargement.

For example, any decision on Turkish EU membership will be subject to a referendum in France.

Royal’s views on the constitution are less clear-cut, although she has said that any new constitutional text will also have to be put to referendum in France.

Steinmeier will put his case to Royal when she visits Berlin next month.

The German’s comments come as the head of France’s powerful employers confederation Laurence Parisot called on the two candidates to focus on more pressing domestic issues.

She said that the new French government should focus on reducing the massive red tape burden on companies, which she complained was stifling competitiveness.

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