EU’s constitution rejected

PARIS – Unhappy French voters on Sunday disrupted plans to further erase political and economic barriers in Europe by decisively rejecting the proposed European constitution and thumbing their noses at the country’s governing elite, which had pleaded for approval of the measure.

The margin of defeat was wide, with about 56 percent voting against the constitution and a heavy turnout. Opposition leaders harnessed widespread disenchantment over a variety of issues, including the unpopularity of President Jacques Chirac, the weakness of the French economy and fears the country would lose its clout to a strengthened European central government.

The French defeat throws into confusion – for now – the campaign to fashion a constitution for Europe, since each of the 25 countries that belong to the European Union must approve the document before it can take effect.

The French vote does not mean the end of the European Union, which will continue to function under rules adopted by treaty in 2000. But it will freeze efforts to give more authority to the central European government in Brussels, such as the power to set foreign policy as well as to regulate fisheries, housing and a myriad of other issues.

“There is no longer a constitution,” said Philippe de Villiers, leader of Movement For France, a nationalist party that warned France would suffer if the European Union continued to expand its borders to include poorer countries such as Turkey. “We need to reconstruct Europe. This vote says there is a real difference in this country between the institutions and what the people really want.”

In a brief televised address shortly after the polls closed, Chirac said he accepted the will of the voters. “France has expressed itself democratically,” said Chirac, who had lobbied heavily for approval of the constitution. “It is your sovereign decision.”

“But let’s not be mistaken,” he added. “The decision of France inevitably creates a difficult context for the defense of our interests in Europe.”

Chirac did not comment on his own political future but hinted that in the coming days he would announce a shake-up in the government, which has sagged in opinion polls. Critics amplified calls for him to resign before his term ended in 2007. Chirac has not ruled out running for re-election, but his already weak political standing was hurt even more by the referendum results.

EU leaders held out hope they could salvage the constitutional campaign. They noted nine countries had given their approval and insisted other members be allowed their say as well. If France remains the lone holdout, backers of the constitution suggested another referendum could be held and French voters could be cajoled into approving the document.

“The European process does not come to a halt today,” Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said at a news conference at the union’s headquarters in Brussels. “The ratification procedure must be pursued in other countries.”

But the constitution could run into more trouble Wednesday, when voters in the Netherlands are scheduled to hold a non-binding referendum. Opinion polls show a majority of Dutch voters are inclined to vote no. If the Dutch join the French in opposition, some lawmakers and analysts said the constitution might have to be scrapped or renegotiated.

Reversal of position

The French revolt against a stronger Europe marks a reversal of its historical support for greater unity with its continental neighbors. The origins of the European Union can be traced to an agreement forged a half century ago by France and Germany to combine their coal and steel industries.

Many French political leaders – including Chirac – have pushed for a more integrated Europe as a political and economic counterweight to the United States and China. Former French President Giscard d’Estaing helped draft the proposed constitution and lobbied for its passage, along with most French political leaders as well as the business and media elite.

But dissatisfaction has bubbled under the surface in France, as well as in other European countries that have been plagued for years by high unemployment and uncertainty over who should belong in the European club.

Many French voters who opposed the constitution said it rankled them that they were not given a chance to vote on EU expansion from 15 members to 25 last year, pulling in most of Eastern Europe. The prospect that Europe’s boundaries might be extended even further – to Muslim Turkey and impoverished Ukraine – has unsettled many people in France.

“I voted no out of a concern for democracy,’ said Gilles Noeul, 28, an engineer who attended an opposition victory rally Sunday night in Paris. “For me, the decisions should not be made by Europe, but by each nation. I want France to make decisions for herself.”

Economic anxieties played a big role in the referendum campaign. With France mired in double-digit unemployment rates, opponents said they were worried the constitution would enable low-wage workers from Eastern Europe to migrate to France and compete for scarce jobs. Others complained the constitution increased the odds that French taxpayers would have to send more money to Brussels, which would in turn funnel it to poorer E.U. members.

Fatouma Diallo, 19, a nursing student in Paris, said she and many of her friends fretted that their job prospects would worsen under a stronger E.U. “They are already taking money from our paychecks,” she said. “These changes are going to affect my generation more than others.”