EU referendum campaigning enters le fin

France has entered what was likely to be a bitter final campaign week before a national referendum on the European Union’s constitution, with polls showing undecided voters could make or break the neck-and-neck race.

The French have been caught up in the debate over the landmark EU charter ahead of the May 29 vote, and the political landscape has been sharply divided.

“Referendum: T-minus six days – It’s all they’re talking about,” read the front-page headline on today’s Le Parisien daily.

Laurent Fabius, the No. 2 Socialist leader who has bucked his party’s line and become a leader of the “No” camp, told Le Parisien that the constitution was too complicated and needed revision.

Socialist Jacques Delors, a former EU Commission head who supports the constitution, urged voters disgruntled about President Jacques Chirac and his centre-right government not to cast their ballots in Sunday’s contest for the wrong reasons.

“We mustn’t confuse the elections – 2005 is not 2007,” he said on LCI television in comments broadcast today. Delors was referring to the French presidential election in two years.

A voter survey published in the Liberation daily showed the “No” camp with a narrow 52-48% lead.

But 20 percent of respondents said they could change their minds. Nine per cent did not respond.

The Louis Harris poll of 1,006 people was conducted on Friday and Saturday. No margin of error was given, but most polls of that size carry a margin of error of about plus or minus three percentage points.

To take effect, the 448-clause constitution must be approved by all 25 EU members, meaning the stakes of a French “No” are high. The Dutch hold a similar referendum on the charter on June 1 – and could draw inspiration from the French verdict.