FRANCE: French President Jacques Chirac faced growing pressure yesterday to call a referendum on the EU constitution after his ruling UMP party said the French must be allowed to decide on the charter.
While a UMP congress voted on Sunday to campaign in favour of a referendum in June 10th-13th European elections, Mr Chirac's office repeated that he would decide only when EU leaders meet to sign the charter text, expected shortly after the polls are held.
"The president will make up his mind when the time comes. Now is not the time," a spokeswoman for Mr Chirac said, adding that he has the option of choosing between a referendum or a parliamentary vote.
Mr Chirac pledged in his successful 2002 re-election campaign to hold a referendum but has since kept his options open for fear the vote could turn into a protest against his conservative government's unpopular economic and welfare reforms.
French Foreign Minister Mr Michel Barnier has said that while the final choice was up to Mr Chirac, "personally, I have always believed in the pedagogic and democratic virtues of a referendum".
Commentators said the UMP move was primarily a poll tactic to make sure it does not lose votes on the issue in the European elections, where a number of smaller right-wing and eurosceptic parties are insisting the French have the final say on the text.
British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair's decision last month to hold a referendum on the charter has also increased pressure on Mr Chirac to offer a plebiscite - which, polls show, a majority of French voters wants.
"Can he keep pushing back indefinitely what was after all an election promise, confirmed several times, without creating a crisis of confidence in his electorate?," asked Le Figaro daily in an editorial.
The constitution, which is expected to be rubber-stamped at an EU summit on June 17th-18th, streamlines voting procedures in the bloc, which this month expanded from 15 members to 25.
At a meeting in Paris last Sunday for an event marking the birth of the EU, Mr Chirac and Mr Blair mounted a vigorous joint defence of the charter, warning that Brussels decision-making would grind to a halt without its reforms.
The French are broadly in favour of European integration and Mr Chirac is seen as having a sporting chance of winning a referendum if he decides to call one - unlike Mr Blair who is expected to face an uphill battle.