Election outcome to have profound effect on EU

THE EU Constitution has been put on hold awaiting the outcome of the French presidential election but the four main candidates have been careful to avoid any major debate with the public on the issue.

The French “no” vote to the constitution sent the union into a state of crisis and shock and led to a decision among member state leaders to do nothing until the air cleared.

They gave it two years. The German presidency has been picking up the threads, careful to stay out of the limelight while doing so.

All are waiting for the second week of May, when the new president of France will be elected, before making any serious attempt to tackle the question of the future of Europe.

The two main contenders, Socialist Segolene Royal and Centre-right Nicholas Sarkozy started their campaigns with populist EU-bashing, blaming the euro and the European Central Bank for the state of the country’s economy.

Ms Royal suggested that the Central Bank governor, Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet, must take more notice of what the eurozone governments say.

This quickly led eurozone president Jean Claude Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to request them not to use the Euro or Europe as fodder.

The third candidate, centrist Francois Bayrou, differed with them and insisted the euro cannot be blamed for the state of the economy, saying it offered the country an opportunity to work its way out of its morass.

Irrespective of what happens to the Constitution, whatever emerges will have to place more emphasis on social Europe and the role to be played by the state in providing health care, pensions and unemployment benefits. They argue there was too much emphasis on the needs of big business in the current draft.

The other main issue where France has taken an important stand is on the EU membership of Turkey. Mr Sarkozy and Mr Bayrou oppose Turkish accession and Mr Sarkozy wants to end the negotiations now. Ms Royal on the other hand favours the country joining but not for ten to 15 years and with conditions such as recognising the Armenian genocide.

The outcome of the last presidential election had a profound effect on the EU when National Front leader Jean Marie Le Pen came second with a massive 18% of the vote on an anti-immigrant ticket, and sent every leader in the EU into a tail-spin, immediately calling for a clampdown on immigrants.

While the candidates have thrown about their thoughts on tax harmonisation, social and environmental issues, Ms Deloy says they have avoided discussing the EU with the people. “They have failed to engage in a true debate on the future of the Union,” she said.