EU CONSTITUTION: EURO-SOCIALISTS LAUNCH BID TO BOOST FRENCH "YES" VOTE.

The campaign was launched in the European Parliament in Brussels on April 7 at a meeting of Socialist and Social Democrat presidents of 15 national parliaments, key figures in the drafting of the Constitutional Treaty (including the Vice-President of the Convention on the Constitution, Giuliano Amato) and other senior political figures.

As part of the campaign, the Socialist group is holding a meeting on May 3 in Paris entitled "Europe is counting on France". The aim is to try to explain to French voters why they should vote Yes in the referendum.

Addressing the meeting, European Commission Vice-President for inter-institutional relations, Margot Wallstrom dismissed criticisms made by left-wing French politicians that the EU Constitution was "anti-social". She said it "consecrates equality and solidarity as fundamental values" while making a commitment to defend and strengthen the European Social Model. Combating social exclusion and discrimination and promoting social justice and protection were highlighted as objectives of the Union, she said, while there was a "legally-binding commitment to fair and just working conditions, the right to social security and social assistance and the right to freedom from discrimination" in the form of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

She rejected claims by some supporters of a more social Europe who opposed the Constitution that if the text was rejected it could be renegotiated to "improve the social dimension". The current text was the "highest possible compromise achievable" between the 25 member states, she said. If the Constitution was voted down, "we will not get more social...