French Referendum

[Loosehead]

On the BBC Talkpoint site there is a question about voting in the EU constitution referendum. Several posts are linking it with some sort of question about Turkey. Can anyone point me at a site with the actual questions the French are being asked? It sound a bit unlikely that the 2 issues are being linked, more likely they are seperate questions. I have Googled but cannot find the actual questions that will be on the ballot paper. Thanks

[jake-the-peg]

I think that the Turkish question is the issue about whether or not Turkey should be allowed to join the EU.

That is not the question that the French are being asked, they are just being asked whether or not the EU constitution should be ratified.

"Approuvez-vous le projet de loi qui autorise la ratification du trait� �tablissant une Constitution pour l�Europe ?"

http://www.constitution-europeenne.fr/index.php?id=112

I think the concern is that the French will use the opportunity to express discontent with the current government, the possibility of Turkish membership, and anything else like the weather in Paris that day aside from what is actually being asked

[jno]

you can find the proposals here

Broadly, they've tried to reorganise the way the EU is run, to take account of the fact that there are now 25 members. Questions that have arisen include such things as whether,say, Luxembourg, which is tiny, should have the same voting power as Germany, which is big - or conversely whether it's fair that small countries should always be outvoted by the big ones; whether any one country should be able to veto things, and so on.

Each country has to ratify the new constitution before it can come into force. If one of them doesn't, the present rules remain in operation. The French are holding a referendum on it this weekend, and the Dutch next week. Tony Blair has promised that the UK will have one as well, but if earlier votes go against it, the whole thing may be dead so there'd be no point in the British voting on it.

The possibility that Turkey may join the EU seems to upset the French. (This isn't a part of the constitution; Turkey's just one of many countries that would like to join.) I'm not really sure why - do any ABers have any ideas? Many Germans are against Turkey too; the current government is in favour of Turkish membership but the opposition isn't, and they look like winning the elections planned for September.

[jno]

sorry, crossed with jake; all he says is correct.

[Loosehead]

I understand the constitution etc, I was refferring to the actual referendum. I was wondering if they just had a simple question as Jake puts it. The aforementioned BBC talkpoint seemd to give the impression that there was a separte question about Turkey or even some sort of link. Perhaps the Turkey question arises implicitly as it's something that is important to the French. During referendums governements often use the opportunity to ask for the public view on other subjects, I was just wondering if it is one of those situations

[apex204]

The Turkey problem relates to concerns regarding human rights and organised crime / corruption etc, which is what has held back Eastern Bloc countries from join the EU for so long. Reading between the lines it could be suggested that Turkey would be the first Muslim country to join the EU and given its links to the Middle East (ie. it has a border with Iraq), this may be the cause for concern with the French and German officials. Could it just be that Turkey is bigger than them? It would become the largest European country after all.