French 'non' at 55 per cent

The two latest opinion polls show the no camp widening its lead to 55 per cent yesterday, with 42 million French citizens eligible to vote on Sunday and another 1.425 million voters joining in from overseas.

Most of the country's 58,000 polling stations will close at 20:00 CET, but may stay open till 22:00 CET in Paris and Lyon, with the first results due in from 22:00 CET.

French president Jacques Chirac appealed to the “historic responsibility” of France in a last-ditch 10-minute long TV broadcast, adding that "Europe will break down”, if France votes no.

"This [vote] is about your future, the future of your children, the future of France, and the future of Europe", he said.

German Chancellor Schroder and Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker will meet on Monday – ostensibly to discuss the June summit – but it will turn into a "crisis management" meeting if the no wins.

Meanwhile, constitution architect Valery Giscard d'Estaing ruled out the possibility of a new treaty, while a host of politicians lined up to attack Juncker's recent statements that the referendum could be rerun.

UMP deputy Nicolas Dupont-Aignan called the idea "a real insult to the French nation", Nationalist leader Philippe De Villiers spoke of "scorn towards popular sovereignty", and socialist Henri Emmanuelli also put his boot in.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Süddeutsche, the French publicist and political analyst Alfred Grosser, criticised both Schroder and Chirac for never having had a vision for Europe’s future.

• Previous article
• Next article