Saying "Non" to Chirac

"THIS CONSTITUTION," SAID French president Jacques Chirac in mid-April, "is in its way, a daughter of French thought." He was talking about the 448-article constitutional treaty (the U.S. Constitution has 7 articles) that is meant to bind the 25 countries of the European Union into something like a superstate. And he was right about the French part. Ever since France, Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries united in a common market half a century ago, Europe-wide cooperation has taken place on France's terms. This has been partly due to the diffidence of postwar Germany, partly to the prowess of France's governing classes. France's clout has diminished with the addition of new countries from the former Soviet bloc, but the E.U. is still its handiwork. Now that the E.U. is getting a permanent constitution, it is not surprising that a large European country is finally complaining. What is surprising is that that large European country is France.

All 25 countries must ratify the constitutional treaty to bring it into force. Most contented themselves with a parliamentary vote. Chirac has promised France a referendum, to be held on May 29. Until recently, it looked like a formality. When a poll in mid-March showed a narrow majority for a "No" vote, many wondered if it was a fluke. Since then, however, French disapproval of "Europe" has crept forward. By mid-April it was steady at 53 percent. Chirac decided to spend some of the political capital he had accumulated in several decades at the top of national politics--not to mention several weeks in 2003 as the head of the global coalition against the Iraq war. He would take his case to the country via television, in an evening of frank discussion with the "youth of France"--80 members of the very constituency that was supposed to benefit most from the building of a united Europe, but among whom skepticism of the E.U. was running highest.