FRANCE:FRANCE'S EUROPEAN affairs minister, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, sees an American hand in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
"Europe has powerful enemies on the other side of the Atlantic, endowed with considerable financial means. The role of American neoconservatives was very important in the victory of the No," Le Monde quoted Mr Jouyet telling a pro-European rally in Lyon.
At the same rally, which was dominated by Ireland's rejection of the treaty, Élisabeth Guigou, a former European affairs minister, conveyed resentment: "You can't benefit to such a point from European assistance, exploit fiscal dumping to the limit and when the time comes to choose say, 'no, I'm not interested'."
"The Irish didn't vote against Europe," former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who presided over the convention that drafted the predecessor to the Lisbon Treaty, told France-Inter radio station yesterday. "After the referendum, they were asked: 'Are you favourable to the EU?' and 89 per cent said yes."
Mr Giscard said the difficulty of the text was the main reason for its rejection. But there should be no question of going towards a "two-speed Europe".
"That would mean excluding people who are not necessarily less European. We must do the opposite. Europe must advance, but we accept that countries put themselves in situations d'exception [obtain protocols and opt-outs]. It doesn't bother us; 70 per cent of Europeans, 19 out of 27 countries, have already pronounced themselves for the Lisbon Treaty. We have a qualified majority."
But wasn't it undemocratic to keep asking people to re-vote until they give the right answer, asked Nicolas Demorand of France-Inter. "Among the people who voted No, 78 per cent, according to polls, said it was so they could renegotiate certain guarantees for Ireland. That means if we renegotiate these guarantees, they'll vote Yes," Mr Giscard said.
Mr Giscard said he was "very confident" the Irish would vote Yes after an adequate period of reflection. Ireland and possibly the Czech Republic were the only obstacles to ratification.
"That makes one or two out of 27, and we'll be done with this affair. The objective is not ratification. It's the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. It will enter into force with one or two exceptions, since there will be 25 or 26 countries who will say Yes, and the others will put themselves in situations d'exception, like Britain, which is already in that situation. It won't prevent us advancing. Only 15 of 27 countries are in the euro zone, and that doesn't stop us moving forward."
Yet according to a BVA poll published yesterday, the French have very little confidence in President Nicolas Sarkozy's ability to make a success of the upcoming French presidency of the EU. Only 31 per cent said they thought Mr Sarkozy could restart European construction after the Irish No, while 57 per cent thought he would not be able to move Europe forward after the referendum.
An even smaller 21 per cent believed Mr Sarkozy could stem the rise of fuel costs to consumers.
At the Brussels summit last week, the French president proposed reducing VAT on petrol, but discussion of the measure was postponed until October.
French pessimism about Mr Sarkozy's ability to lead the EU for the next six months mirrors their pessimism about his ability to reverse France's economic decline, economic newspaper Les Échos said. Only 32 per cent thought he could promote economic growth in Europe; 39 per cent said he had an ambitious plan for Europe; and 44 per cent believed he would be diplomatic towards France's European partners.
Diplomacy was behind the vote in the French senate on Monday night vetoing a requirement for a referendum on Turkish accession to the EU. Former president Jacques Chirac changed the constitution in 2005 to require a referendum on any further enlargement of the EU. Although he opposes Turkish accession, Mr Sarkozy is trying to undo Mr Chirac's amendment.
On May 29th, the national assembly restored the requirement for a referendum for any country representing more than 5 per cent of the EU's population - a measure clearly aimed at Turkey.
The president of the senate foreign affairs commission, Josselin de Rohan, condemned the assembly's "discriminatory" vote and said it was "obvious that it will seriously harm relations with [Turkey]".