EUROPEAN COMMISSION: RAFFARIN TELLS BARROSO'S TEAM TO MIND THEIR LANGUAGE.

At a press conference following a dinner, President Barroso started off by stressing the importance of France to the EU in words which seemed aimed at encouraging support for a yes vote in the referendum on the constitution due to be held by the summer. France was an "essential country" for the EU, Barroso said. He added that it was important that this message was communicated to citizens so that they could understand that European construction could bring "something enormous".

Raffarin echoed Barroso's comments, saying that Europe was putting in place a "new deal" with the constitution and enlargement. He said the Barroso Commission was participating in this new deal and that "important progress" had already been made thanks to his team.

Turning to the controversial Directive on liberalisation of the services market, Raffarin said that France "very much appreciated the spirit of dialogue" with this Commission. He thanked Barroso for having listened to France's remarks about the Directive but he stressed that they were not new and that France had been making them since the launch of the Directive. The French Prime Minister said that the French model for services should be respected. The French government has been one of the strongest critic's of the proposal, saying it was "unacceptable" in its current form and would lead to social dumping.

On the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, which sets out rules for monetary stability in the Euro-zone, Raffarin said this was another "positive aspect". While budgetary discipline should be respected, other criteria such as jobs and growth should be taken into account, he said.

On the issue of how to deal with "delocalisations", Barroso said that no-one controlled what firms...