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Adonis33
Guest
France said “NO”
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Fergal
Guest
Looks that way alright. Exit polls are reporting now. No official result yet…
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aimee
Guest
By Timothy Heritage
22 minutes ago
France rejects EU treaty, EU into crisis
PARIS (Reuters) - France overwhelmingly rejected the European Union’s constitution in a referendum on Sunday, plunging the EU into crisis and dealing a potentially fatal blow to a charter designed to make the enlarged bloc run smoothly.
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EU leaders in Brussels said the constitution was not dead and member states should continue the ratification process, but British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said France’s rejection raised profound questions about the future of the bloc.
French President Jacques Chirac swiftly conceded defeat in a televised address to the nation as the “No” camp celebrated a crushing victory with about 56 percent of votes on the EU’s first constitution, intended to simplify decision-making.
news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20050529/bs_nm/eu_france_dc_32
Une défaite si lourde dans un pays qui a été l’un des piliers principaux de l’EU réduit les chances d’une voix de répétition.
22 minutes ago
France rejects EU treaty, EU into crisis
PARIS (Reuters) - France overwhelmingly rejected the European Union’s constitution in a referendum on Sunday, plunging the EU into crisis and dealing a potentially fatal blow to a charter designed to make the enlarged bloc run smoothly.
ADVERTISEMENT
EU leaders in Brussels said the constitution was not dead and member states should continue the ratification process, but British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said France’s rejection raised profound questions about the future of the bloc.
French President Jacques Chirac swiftly conceded defeat in a televised address to the nation as the “No” camp celebrated a crushing victory with about 56 percent of votes on the EU’s first constitution, intended to simplify decision-making.
news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20050529/bs_nm/eu_france_dc_32
Une défaite si lourde dans un pays qui a été l’un des piliers principaux de l’EU réduit les chances d’une voix de répétition.
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alih
Guest
i was listening to “radio netherlands” the other night on short wave and the commentators were saying that the dutch politicians wanted the constitution but the people didn’t. looks like it will fail there also. have a goodyear. alih.
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gilliam
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rlg94086
Guest
gilliam said:
WOW! Who woulda thunk there was that much Bush territory in France?
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Franze
Guest
gilliam said:
It´s wonderful. But not worry this NON is very anti-american. Right wing, left wing, communists, troskits, Le Pen etc.
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David_Paul
Guest
Brittany voted yes. Why is that?
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Illini
Guest
My understanding is that the area just to the east of Brittany, including the city of Nantes, is one of the most conservative regions of France. That’s where the counter-revolution erupted in 1794. That part is blue as well. I don’t know about Brittany itself.
While the Red-State/Blue-State reference is funny, French politics is quite different from American. One big difference is the way France’s politicians react to events like this. A decisive vote one way in the U.S. would lead the losing party to do plenty of soul-searching and speeches about how it heard the voters. (Yes, even many Democrats did this in November.)
Chirac’s speech, however, was incredible, basically telling his citizens (1) you have ruined France’s position in the EU; (2) we politicians going to continue to work to pass the constitution anyway. Others in Paris and Brussels loudly proclaimed that the constitution will still be ratified, and trumpeted the fact that 9 countries representing 49% of EU citizens approved it. They forgot to mention that only one of the nine (Spain) approved it by referendum.
Say what you want about U.S. politicians, but they do listen to the voters much more than European leaders do.
-Illini
While the Red-State/Blue-State reference is funny, French politics is quite different from American. One big difference is the way France’s politicians react to events like this. A decisive vote one way in the U.S. would lead the losing party to do plenty of soul-searching and speeches about how it heard the voters. (Yes, even many Democrats did this in November.)
Chirac’s speech, however, was incredible, basically telling his citizens (1) you have ruined France’s position in the EU; (2) we politicians going to continue to work to pass the constitution anyway. Others in Paris and Brussels loudly proclaimed that the constitution will still be ratified, and trumpeted the fact that 9 countries representing 49% of EU citizens approved it. They forgot to mention that only one of the nine (Spain) approved it by referendum.
Say what you want about U.S. politicians, but they do listen to the voters much more than European leaders do.
-Illini
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Fitz
Guest
Has there been any talk of a recount?
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BenRosa
Guest
France has many of Muslims…wonder how they played in this vote? I’d think they’d be happy the EU will not run as smoothly as it could. Make it easier to take-over.
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Trelow
Guest
Vive La France!
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Brad
Guest
I’m not surprised. France wants to be Europe, but, more than that, France wants to be France.
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Hildebrand
Guest
Brittany & Vendee have a long history of being more loyal as Catholics (thus more traditional/conservative). Vendee sort of reminds me of Tyrol in the Habsburg Lands.
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