On 14 July 2004, the President of France let it be known that he had decided that the treaty would be presented to the French nation for ratification by means of a referendum. Following consultations with the various political parties, he finally set the date for the referendum as Sunday 29 May 2005. Polls, which had been predicting a /yes/ victory right up until March 2005, are now casting doubt on whether France will in fact endorse the treaty.
Download article in original language : FR0505103NFR.DOC
On 14 July 2004, the President of France let it be known that he had decided that the treaty would be presented to the French nation for ratification by means of a referendum. Following consultations with the various political parties, he finally set the date for the referendum as Sunday 29 May 2005. Polls, which had been predicting a yes victory right up until March 2005, are now casting doubt on whether France will in fact endorse the treaty.
As early as July 2004, French President Jacques Chirac opted to submit the European Union Constitution Treaty to all French citizens for ratification by means of a referendum (EU0307204F). The Congress of the two houses of the French Parliament (National Assembly and the Senate) met on this occasion only to make the amendments to the French Constitution necessary to allow for the European Constitution. The 29 May 2005 French referendum on this new European Union treaty will take place against a rather turbulent international, European (FR0503105F) and national (FR0504108F; FR0502109F) backdrop. As is the case in other European countries, the ratification of the treaty is controversial in both the political (UK0405104F) and trade union (BE0308301N) spheres.
Right-wing political parties such as the People’s Movement Party (Union pour un mouvement populaire, UMP) and the French Democracy Party (Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) were quick to lend their support to the endorsement of the European Constitution treaty. Left-wing parties such as the Greens, the Left Radical Party (Parti radical de gauche, PRG) and the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste, PS) also had majorities in favour of the Constitution, in the case of the last-named only after a poll of its members. On the basis of a 78% turnout for the vote, which took place on 1 December 2004, 58% of Socialist party members endorsed the European Union Constitution. Yet, some leading figures in the Party decided to campaign for a no vote and to vote against the question asked: Do you endorse the Bill authorising the ratification of the treaty establishing a European Constitution? The Citizen and Republican Movement (Mouvement républicain et citoyen, MRC), the French Communist party (Parti communiste français, PCF), Workers’ party (Lutte ouvrière, LO) and the Revolutionary Communist League (Ligue communiste révolutionnaire, LCR) have, sometimes for different reasons, came out against the treaty. Right-wing organisations such as the Movement for France (Mouvement pour la France, MPF) and the National Front (Front National, FN) also took a position against the Constitution.
The period between the second quarter of 2004 (suspense created by the Socialist Party referendum campaign) and March 2005 (opinion polls showing a shift towards a no vote for the first time) has been a particularly tense time in French politics. The Government created a Website designed to inform its citizens. At the same time, proponents of the treaty have stepped up their action. The March 2005 National Farmers’ Union (Fédération nationale du syndicat des exploitants agricoles, FNSEA) convention, which had not adopted an official position, saw a slew of pro-constitution political leaders address an audience that, according to polls, was mainly opposed to the treaty.
The French Employers’ Association (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) whose current President, Ernest Antoine Seillière, is due to become President of UNICE this summer (FR0502103N), came out in favour of a yes vote.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Congress in the second half of 2004, four [the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), the French Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC), the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT), the National Federation of Independent Unions (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes, UNSA)] of the five [the General Confederation of Labour - Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail-Force ouvrière, CGT-FO)] affiliated trade unions endorsed the European Constitution.
The CFDT has been campaigning for a yes vote and on 7 April 2005 some 1,800 activists met under its auspices in Paris in the presence of the European Trade Union Congress Secretary General, who had, a few weeks previously, argued in favour of the European Constitution at the UNSA convention (FR0504102N). Agreement was reached to support the treaty including the Charter of Fundamental Rights. This position, as was likewise the case at the CFTC, was only arrived at after some controversy within the organisation.
The CGT-FO took the decision at its National Union Committee (Comité confédéral national, CCN), meeting in September 2004 not to issue any instructions on which way to vote. On 20 April 2005, the organisation published a set of dossiers on the treaty for its members’ information. The CFE-CGC also declined to take an official position. However, the union’s president did let it be known that he would personally be voting no.
The Unitary Union Federation (Fédération Syndicale Unitaire, FSU) is said to be leaning towards a no vote. In early February 2005, the CGT’s National Union Committee (the union’s parliament) opted to reject the draft European Constitution, thus distancing itself from the trade union’s leadership, which had until then been more or less for the treaty.
This information is made available through the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO), as a service to users of the EIROnline database. EIRO is a project of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. However, this information has been neither edited nor approved by the Foundation, which means that it is not responsible for its content and accuracy. This is the responsibility of the EIRO national centre that originated/provided the information. For details see the "About this record" information in this record.
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (2005), Stands on The European Union Constitution Treaty, article.
