Country profile: France: France's two main political parties, the ruling centre-right UMP and the opposition socialists, are both obsessed with elections right now. The only problem is that they are not the European parliamentary poll which will take place here on June 13th. Lara Marlowe in Paris reports
The UMP is more concerned with who will replace its current president, Mr Alain Juppé, when he steps down before his appeal is heard in the autumn, following his conviction on corruption charges.
The socialists' campaign has turned into a staging ground for politicians seeking the left's nomination in the 2007 French presidential elections. Their contest has been complicated by the reappearance of Lionel Jospin, the former prime minister who swore to leave politics after losing the first round of the presidential poll in 2002. Mr Jospin is appearing at election rallies across France in support of socialist candidates for the European Parliament.
Both camps are using the European poll to jockey for advantage in a particularly antagonistic domestic political environment. Perhaps the only truly European issue in the campaign is whether, as the socialists demand, France should push for a Europe-wide minimum wage and shorter working hours. The right-wing social affairs minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, this week lambasted the proposal.
The socialists are egging on the 62 per cent of French voters who tell pollsters they will use the poll "to show their discontent". The party leader, Mr Francois Hollande, says June 13th provides an opportunity to defeat the government's attempt to reform the social security system, though the system has nothing to do with Europe.
"The policies that the French judged unfair and incoherent (in regional elections which the right lost in March) have not changed," Mr Jospin told La Dépêche du Midi yesterday. "So the reasons to punish the government continue."
The government is spending €2.7 million to incite people to vote. Its poster campaign vaunts the efforts of the European parliament to defend consumers, ensure gender equality, safety in food and transport, job security and clean air.
"It's important to make the voice of France heard in Europe, and the voice of Europe heard in the world," is the main argument used by Ms Claudie Haignéré, the Minister for European Affairs, to encourage people to vote. She admits that ignorance is rife, and she keeps repeating that the poll "is not about opposing or approving a constitution; not about letting Turkey into the Union". With 72 per cent of the French supporting a constitutional treaty, officials hope that Irish success in brokering an agreement - even if it comes after the poll - could boost participation. "If the heads of state and government made an announcement a few days before the election to the effect that they are sure to reach agreement at the [June 17th-18th] summit, it would increase turnout by several percentage points," predicts Mr Jean-Guy Giraud, the director of the European Parliament's office in Paris.
The interior ministry had by March 27th approved 140 lists, of varying lengths and divided unevenly among eight "super regions", for the election. Yesterday was the deadline for filing an application to stand. Though an exact figure is not yet available, there will be between 3,500 and 3,600 candidates for 78 French seats in the European Parliament.
The most recent polls give the left - socialists, communists and greens combined - 42 per cent of the vote, compared to 35.5 per cent for the centre right. In 1999, the left won 38.5 per cent of the vote, the right 35.1 per cent. So the left looks likely to increase its proportion of French seats in Strasbourg.