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| | BreakingNews.ie: Chirac calls spring referendum on EU Constitution |
 | | France will hold a referendum on the European Constitution in the spring, President Jacques Chirac announced today, calling on government ministers to work for a yes vote. | | | But first, the two houses of Frances parliament will vote formally in March to a revision of the French Constitution, needed to accommodate the expanded powers of the European Union, Justice Minister Dominique Perben said. | | | Chirac told ministers at the first Cabinet meeting of the year that the bill revising the French constitution will also strengthen the parliaments intervention powers in setting down European legislation. |
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http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/01/03/story183034.html
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| | Irish Times Article - European leaders say constitution still alive |
| | European Union leaders claimed yesterday that the EU constitution remains alive despite Sunday's No vote in France but admitted that referendums elsewhere are now less likely to succeed. | | | Mr Juncker wants all other countries to continue to ratify the constitution despite the French vote and has promised to hold a referendum in Luxembourg in July, as planned. | | | Britain's Tony Blair called for "a period of reflection" after this week's referendums and said the debate on the constitution did not reflect citizens' concerns. |
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2005/0531/3990187368HM1EU.html
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| | YES to the European Constitution: News |
| | European Union leaders Sunday welcomed the approval of the European constitution in a referendum by Luxembourg voters who backed the charter by 56.5 percent to 44.4 percent. | | | Cyprus is to press ahead with ratification of the troubled European Union constitution despite the decision of several key members to abandon the process after referendum defeats in France and the Netherlands. | | | Officials across the European Union on Monday praised Luxembourg's approval of the embattled EU constitution in a weekend referendum as a vital shot in the arm and evidence the charter is not dead. |
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http://www.yes-campaign.net/index.php?id=1064
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| | Europe: european constitution, a bumpy road after the Spanish referendum |
| | When Valéry Giscard dEstaing, the former French president heading the convention in charge of drafting the European Constitution, realised they had finalised a document acceptable for the European Commission he felt rays of historic achievement shining down upon his humble self and, of course, his most competent colleagues in the convention. | | | The European Constitution, a treaty that reforms the rules that hold the European Union together on economic, foreign and common defence policy, will be put to the vote in 10 referendums across Europe in the next 18 months. | | | In France, public opinion against the European constitution treaty is hardening. |
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http://www.socialistworld.net/eng/2005/03/01europe.html
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| | BBC NEWS Europe France plans EU constitution poll |
| | "And so there will be a referendum, which is likely to be held next year, at the end of all of the procedures, notably the possible revision of the constitution to adapt our constitution to the main obligations of the constitutional treaty." | | | The new constitution agreed by 25 EU leaders last month must win approval in each member state either by a vote in parliament or by public referendum. | | | She says European enlargement has not been universally popular in France, with some people fearing an added strain on the EU budget, as well as diminishing French influence in Europe. |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3893735.stm
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| | Irish Times Article - Minister casts doubt on holding of Irish referendum |
| | Interviewed during a visit to the UN in New York, Dermot Ahern said the outcome of the French and Dutch referendums "creates a very difficult situation" as all EU members had agreed they would try to ratify the new constitution. | | | He continued: "In Ireland's case, we have now published a Bill providing for a national referendum on the European Constitution. | | | Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has cast doubt on whether Ireland will hold a referendum on the EU constitution, following the "very difficult situation" created by the rejection of the constitution by France and the Netherlands. |
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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2005/0603/4171977752HM1OCLERY.html
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| | France - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| | However the French electorate voted against ratification of the European Constitutional Treaty in May 2005. | | | On May 29, 2005 the French electorate voted in the referendum with about 55% against ratification of the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. | | | Under the constitution, the President of the French Republic is elected directly by universal adult suffrage for a 5-year (originally 7-year) term. |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France
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| | BBC NEWS Europe France names EU referendum date |
| | France will hold a referendum on the European Union constitution on 29 May, the president's office has announced. | | | Spain became the first country to back the treaty through a referendum on 20 February while some countries have approved it with parliamentary votes. | | | He also wants to avoid the constitution being used as a chance for the French to deliver a protest vote against his government's unpopular economic reforms. |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4317819.stm
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| | French Non Threatens European Unity - Worldpress.org |
| | Socialist party leader Francois Hollande spoke earlier this month in Montlucon, France, at a meeting for those promoting the "No" vote in the upcoming 29 May French referendum on the European constitution. | | | In a sign of panic, the French government tried in late March to buy a yes vote in the referendum on the European Union constitution by offering inflation-linked wage increases to roughly five million public employees. | | | Fifteen opinion polls have confirmed the trend with 51 percent to 55 percent of likely voters opposed to the European Union constitutional treaty. |
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http://www.worldpress.org/Europe/2068.cfm
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| | Boston.com / News / World / Europe / Protester strips in French Senate |
| | A man stripped in the French Senate, revealing the word "non" written on his chest, a show of opposition Thursday to the European Union constitution. | | | PARIS-- A man stripped in the French Senate, revealing the word "non" written on his chest, a show of opposition Thursday to the European Union constitution. | | | Senate officials said he told police he was protesting the "dictatorship" of the "yes" camp in the heated campaign on the constitution, which will be voted on in a referendum on May 29. |
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http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/05/12/protester_strips_in_french_senate
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| | French Fifth Republic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| | French presidents, as in preceding constitutions, were given a long term (7 years, now reduced to 5 years) and currently still have more internal power than most of their European counterparts in parliamentary democracies. | | | On September 28, 1958, a referendum took place and 79.2% of those who voted supported the new constitution. | | | The Fifth Republic, with a president with significant official functions and a great political clout, is sometimes criticized as being "monarchic". |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fifth_Republic
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| | EU Referendum |
| | Their idea is to have a referendum on the European constitution in tandem with the parliamentary elections of 2006. | | | On 20 April last year, the prime minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons that he would "let the people have the final say" on the EU constitution, thereby announcing that he would hold a referendum â without actually using the word "referendum" in his speech. | | | This notwithstanding, the Frogs seems to be all at sea with their referendum which given the record of French naval victories (not), is not a happy position for these amphibians. |
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http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_eureferendum_archive.html
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| | French Non Threatens European Unity - Worldpress.org |
| | Socialist party leader Francois Hollande spoke earlier this month in Montlucon, France, at a meeting for those promoting the "No" vote in the upcoming 29 May French referendum on the European constitution. | | | In a sign of panic, the French government tried in late March to buy a yes vote in the referendum on the European Union constitution by offering inflation-linked wage increases to roughly five million public employees. | | | Frances mainstream political parties, the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (U.M.P.) and the opposition Socialist Party (P.S.), are both officially in favor of the new constitution. |
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http://www.worldpress.org/print_article.cfm?article_id=2188&dont=yes
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| | Centre for a Social Europe |
| | As in the UK, the yes campaign has been keen to paint opponents of the Constitution as anti-European. | | | The French Socialist Party has historically been a strong advocate of further EU integration what is surprising is the extent to which the Party has split over the Constitution, and the lack of enthusiasm on all sides for the deal on the table. | | | The French Socialists vote tomorrow (1 December) on their Partys stance towards the EU Constitution, and polls suggest it will be a yes. |
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http://www.social-europe.org.uk/bulletins/041130.htm
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| | French opposition in shambles after vote - (United Press International) |
| | A staunch supporter of the European charter, Hollande spearheaded the majority Socialist "yes" vote to the constitution that emerged in an internal party referendum last year. | | | The current fracture "makes it hard to see how the party is going to reconcile itself," Etienne Schweisguth, research director for the Paris-based Center for the Study of French Political Life, told Liberation newspaper. | | | Although the rejection amounts to a major political blow for Chirac and his conservative government, surveys show voters backing the UMP largely voted for the constitution. |
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http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050603-122233-8855r.htm
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| | Poll: Strong Danish support for Constitution |
| | Now a new poll indicates stronger than expected backing for the European Constitution, which will be subject to a referendum in Denmark. | | | With only 17% against and 54% supporting the EU Constitution the coast looks clear for the upcoming Danish referendum. | | | French referendum on EU Constitution may take place in May |
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http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-131871-16&type=News
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| | Democratic Underground - French 'yes' and "no' camp square off on debate on EU constitution. |
| | More than 20 polls taken since mid-March have shown that French voters will reject the constitution in the May 29 referendum. | | | Top representatives of France's political parties squared off Monday in a live televised debate on the European constitution, with Foreign Minister Michel Barnier urging a 'yes' vote in a May referendum. | | | Barnier, speaking for President Jacques Chirac's ruling center-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), warned that France's influence within the European Union would suffer should the country vote 'no' on May 29. |
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1423120
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| | Socialist Party (France) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| | However, several well-known members of the Party, including Laurent Fabius, Henri Emmanuelli and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, asked the voters to vote "no" in the 29 May 2005 French referendum on the European Constitution, at which the proposed Constitution was rejected. | | | In 1899 there was a realignment of French socialism, with the formation of the Socialist Party of France (Parti Socialiste de France) on the left and the French Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste Français) on the right, led by Alexandre Millerand. | | | Because of this, the Socialist party is often criticised by groups further to the left such as the Workers' Struggle (Lutte Ouvrière) and the Revolutionary Communist League as being no longer a truly socialist party. |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Party_(France)
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| | CNN.com - France set for government shakeup - May 30, 2005 |
| | Exit polls show that French voters reject the European Union Constitution. | | | But British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the EU needed time to reflect on the French result and that it was too soon to say if Britain would press ahead with a referendum. | | | The treaty was drawn up by a 200-person panel of parliamentarians headed by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who said countries that reject the constitution will be asked to vote again. |
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http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/05/30/france.eu
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| | Minister of Foreign Affairs, A.D. Rotfeld, after an official visit in Washington. |
| | Most of us would naturally assume that a rejection of the EU constitution by French voters would mean that the constitution itself should be renegotiated and that the holding of any future referendum would depend upon the submission of an entirely new constitutional document for consideration. | | | President Kwasniewski has suggested a referendum could be held in conjuction with the presidential elections on October 9. | | | To be sure, the French decision to reject the constitution is a hammer blow to the hopes of pro-EU advocates. |
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http://www.masterpage.com.pl/eer_archive/eer3june2005.html
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| | Gulfnews: US has a stake in Europe's constitution |
| | Opinion polls show that the French public may well reject the new draft constitution for the European Union in a national referendum on May 29, and some of France's critics in the United States are finding it hard to conceal their glee. | | | Also, a range of French politicians from across the political spectrum from Chirac's rival on the left, Lionel Jospin, to his rival on the right, Nicolas Sarkozy are now actively campaigning, reminding the French that the vote is about the European Union, not a referendum on Chirac. | | | In fact, a French rejection of the constitution would not only be a crisis for Europe, but a real setback for the United States and beyond. |
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http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=165489
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| | Man strips in French Senate protesting EU Constitution - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM |
| | PARIS (AP) - A man jumped onto the French Senate floor and stripped, revealing the word 'non' written on his body, in a show of opposition yesterday to the European Union constitution. | | | He told police he was fighting against the "dictatorship" of the 'yes' camp in the heated campaign on the constitution, which will be voted on in a referendum on May 29. | | | Man strips in French Senate protesting EU Constitution |
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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050512T170000-0500_80334_OBS_MAN_STRIPS_IN_FRENCH_SENATE_PROTESTING_EU_CONSTITUTION.asp
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| | New French Prime Minister Faces Strike |
| | Chirac's request that a June 16-17 meeting of the European Council be used to start analyzing the consequences of the French referendum contradicts the stance of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. | | | However, the French referendum had particular impact because it was the first country to vote "no" and because France is a founding member of the union, which has been under construction for a half-century. | | | He said Tuesday that leaders must make "a clear decision" about the future of the EU's first constitution at the June summit. |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/06/01/international/i073752D03.DTL&type=printable
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| | CIB - EF |
| | The man who controls the French government from behind the scenes, the former prime minister, current mayor of Bordeaux, and president of the Union pour le Mouvement Populaire (the single right-wing party formed to support President Chirac), Alain Jupp, has said that any new European constitution will have to be approved by referendum. | | | The French government has confirmed that it thinks that the new European constitution should be submitted to a vote which should be held in all EU member states on the same day. | | | Posselt recently voted in the European parliament against the accession of the Czech Republic - which puts him in the odd position of being an "objective ally" of those Eurosceptic politicians like the European Foundation's own Jan Zahradil, who has strongly denounced the opening of the Sudeten Germans' Prague office. |
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http://www.bullen.demon.co.uk/cibef.htm
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| | Chirac and Socialists Reel After a Debate on Europe - New York Times |
| | Chirac, the main proponent of the charter, could have ratified the constitution by a parliamentary vote, but under pressure from rivals in his party demanding a popular vote, he decided last year to call for a referendum. | | | President Jacques Chirac cast his vote on the European constitution in the southwestern town of Sarran. | | | Chirac promised to heal the social divisions of France, yet opinion polls show that advocates and opponents of the constitution are split along socioeconomic lines, with those who are less well-off planning to vote against it. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/29/international/europe/29france.html?ex=1275019200&en=619ba591da915213&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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| | French Fifth Republic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| | French presidents, as in preceding constitutions, were given a long term (7 years, now reduced to 5 years) and currently still have more internal power than most of their European counterparts in parliamentary democracies. | | | The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on October 5, 1958. | | | The president was initially elected by an electoral college, but in 1962 de Gaulle proposed that the president should be directly elected by the citizens in a referendum. |
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fifth_Republic
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| | BBC NEWS Europe Denmark divided on constitution |
| | Mr Rasmussen, who is keen to get rid of the four opt-outs, has suggested that a referendum could be a vote on the opt-outs as well as the EU constitution. | | | Rasmussen has proposed a referendum on the constitution | | | Legal experts in the largely eurosceptic Scandinavian country of Denmark are warning that the new EU constitution - as drafted by the former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing - could be in conflict with the Danish constitution. |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2956350.stm
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| | earlywarning: Switching Places |
| | The defeat of the European Constitution in the May referendum and his own loss of support appears to have ruled out Chirac's hopes of staging a bid for a third term which, among other things, would have shielded him from prosecution on political fraud charges. | | | Breaking with the Socialist Party line, former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius was the most prominent politician to push the successful campaign for a No vote on the European Constitution at the end of May. As a result, he has been pushed out of the Socialist Party leadership. | | | Though he strikes nationalistic chords, Sarkozy is the French politician most likely to introduce structural reforms to liberalise the economy. |
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http://www.earlywarning.com/articles/2005_07_14_all_change
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| | Jacques Chirac: Biography and Much More From Answers.com |
| | On 29 May 2005 a referendum was held in France to decide whether the country should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union. | | | His failure in 2005 to win the approval of French voters for a new EU constitution was a blow to his prestige. | | | The French president, by a constitutional convention, only controls foreign and military policy— and even then, allocation of funding is under the control of Parliament and under the significant influence of the prime minister. |
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http://www.answers.com/jacques+chirac
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| | CBC News: Dutch voters reject EU constitution |
| | Three days earlier, French voters rejected the constitution that would have created a political and economic entity rivalling the United States. | | | With Sunday's referendum result, France became the first EU member to reject the constitution. | | | Dutch voters have rejected a proposed European Union constitution by a margin of 61.6 to 38.4 per cent, according to Dutch news agency ANP on Wednesday. |
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http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/06/01/dutch-constitution050601.html
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