EU CONSTITUTION: FRENCH PARLIAMENT CLEARS WAY TO REFERENDUM VOTE.

French President Jacques Chirac is expected to announce a date for the vote soon after consultations with all the main political parties. This process is expected to take at least three days, starting on March 1, so would mean that an announcement would be next week at the earliest. Mr Chirac says the vote should be held by the summer with speculation that it could be as early as May.

Francois Hollande, leader of the opposition Socialist Party, has called for a campaign of at least two months to allow time to tackle widespread ignorance of and hostility towards the constitution. Recent opinion polls show that support for the constitution has fallen from around 70% in September 2004 to around 58% now. Yes campaigners have been also worried by the low turnout in the Spanish referendum on February 20. Although 77% of voters said yes but participation was only 42.5%, lower than for the European Parliament elections in June 2004.

In order to tackle widespread opposition to EU enlargement, the amendment voted on February 28 also requires future governments to hold referendums when the Union takes in new members. The move is designed to reassure voters that a yes for the constitution does...