Fischer backs French 'yes' vote

German Foreign Minister Joshka Fischer said yesterday that, were a referendum on the EU constitution held in Germany, it would pass.

Stepping into the campaign for a “yes” vote in France’s May 29 referendum, Fischer said the debate in France over the merits of the document was normal, but he was persuaded that “the Germans would vote ’yes.'"

Unlike France, Germany is not holding a referendum on the constitution. The lower house of the German parliament is to hold a vote today followed by a vote in the upper house on May 27. It was expected to pass.

A poll released on Sunday by Germany’s ARD television showed 59% of Germans support the constitution and would vote “yes” in any referendum. Only 15% were against it, and 26% were undecided.

Fischer joined French Socialist lawmaker Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Belgium’s Philippe Busquin, former European commissioner for research, in a debate on the constitution.

EU officials and European ministers have stepped in to buoy the “yes” camp in France after nearly two dozen polls showed the “no” vote could win.

All 25 EU members must accept the constitution for it to take effect, so a French rejection would be a major setback to the union.

Among those planning to vote “no” is former French first lady Danielle Mitterrand whose husband, Francois Mitterrand, a Socialist, was a major force, along with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, in building Europe.

“I entirely understand the arguments of those who vote ’yes’ but I think, for my part … that one cannot take little steps and one must know how to say ’no,'" she said on France-2 television.

In Lyon, Fischer hailed the document as a “compromise”, adding that “the essence of Europe is compromise”. He said that, to his mind, it is “unjustified” for critics to call the constitution neo-liberal or capitalist. Some critics fear the constitution is geared to gain at the expense of social benefits.

Yesterday, the Austrian parliament voted overwhelmingly to ratify the treaty, as did Slovakia.

The constitution provides for a foreign minister and a president to give the 25-nation EU greater clout on the international stage, and it streamlines decision-making in the bloc while simplifying voting rules.