By Bruno Waterfield - 14th April 2005
Jacques Chirac has made the first major intervention of the French EU constitution campaign on French TV.
The French president, in a debate with 83 young people, urged “let us not be afraid” of a new Europe.
“There is something which is not natural, it is this feeling of fear, let us not be afraid,” he said.
“I am always a little astonished… that a feeling of fear is expressed… it is a feeling I understand badly, in particular on behalf of young people who engage in life and who should precisely not be afraid.”
“It is a question of state of mind, me, I have confidence in the future and confidence in France.”
The French leader highlighted “globalisation which worries French men and women, and which is driven by an ultra-liberal tendency”.
And he pledged to fight for a “strong” Europe in contrast to Anglo-Saxon style economic reforms.
“The world evolves towards more and more great powers, those which exist and those which are emergent, like India or South America,” Chirac argued.
“There are two solutions. The first: to go with the Anglo-Saxon and Atlantic liberal current. It is not that we want.”
“The second solution is that of a humanist and therefore organised Europe. So this organisation has force, rules are needed.”
But Chirac’s rhetoric on economic liberalisation will dismay EU liberalisers seeking to reform Europe’s economy and boost growth.
Paris is trying to soothe French fears of sliding wages and social standards in an enlarged Europe by branding the EU constitution a social charter.
“Its logic is precisely non-liberal. It does not call into question, naturally, the market economy. But it goes beyond economic Europe to make political Europe.”
Chirac warned that in the event of a ‘non’ France “would cease to exist politically” in Europe.
“You will have 24 countries which will vote yes and then the black sheep which will have blocked,” he said.
“Only our political power today within Europe enables us to defend our interests, so if tomorrow we voted ‘non’, we will not have more power.”
The unpopular Chirac ruled out his resignation in the event of a defeat – a move the Elysée hopes will stop the EU vote becoming a plebiscite on his government.
The possibility of him stepping down has been mooted by political rivals in his own ruling centre-right political grouping the UMP.
Nicolas Sarkozy, favourite as Chirac’s successor, has compared the referendum to the 1969 resignation of Charles De Gaulle after a failed vote on constitutional reform.
French fears over EU enlargement, and a marginalised France, a new economic liberalising dynamic in Brussels have dovetailed with public mistrust.
Opinion polls have swung from high levels of support for the EU constitution to a lead for the ‘non’ campaigners.
And for French newspaper Le Figaro the Chirac TV show was a “missed opportunity” and the latest opinion poll gives the no camp 55 per cent.
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