French referendum result ‘worries’ Brussels

BRUSSELS, April 22 (AFP) – The European Union’s executive commission said Friday it was “worried” about polls in France showing that voters were likely to vote down the EU’s first ever constitution.

“It is very clear that the (European) Commission, like everybody else, is worried by the turn of the statistics,” said spokeswoman Francoise Le Bail.

A long series of opinion polls over the last few weeks have indicated that the French “no” campaign against the EU constitution is set to win a referendum on May 29.

“Of course, there are a number of weeks to go before the referendum. But we very much hope that the figures will change,” Le Bail said.

The constitution is meant to ease decision-making in the expanded EU but it must be adopted by all 25 member states. A rejection in France would plunge the EU into one of the most serious crises in its half-century history.

The latest poll, released Thursday, suggest that 58 percent of voters would come out against the constitution.

“It is also worth noticing that there are variations from one day to the other in the polls. One has to question in fact if these results are really stable,” Le Bail said.

“Apart from that, the trend seems to be there and this is in itself worrying”, she added.