Euro council chief calls for French yes vote
European Council president Jean-Claude Juncker today pleaded for a “yes” vote in France’s May 29 referendum on the 25-nation bloc’s first constitution.
Speaking to EU culture ministers meeting in Paris, Juncker said his purpose in addressing the gathering was not simply to rally support for the treaty. “But, I plead for the ‘yes,'" said Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
His speech was aimed at assuring artists, officials and hundreds of representatives of European culture gathered at Paris’ Comedie Francaise that the treaty would not homogenise culture but help promote its diversity.
The comments came in a week of stepped-up campaigning for the constitution in France, where Chirac and his government are trying to bolster support for the treaty.
Three new polls released on Monday showed the “yes” camp making up lost ground ahead of the French referendum on the EU constitution – and one showed it in the lead.
Chirac is due to give a prime-time television interview this evening to promote the constitution.
