Chirac Promises A Public Referendum On Turkey

[Siamanto]

Jacques Chirac promet un référendum sur l'adhésion de la Turquie

EUROPE, lundi 4 septembre 2004 –ARMENEWS- Jacques Chirac a tenté de rassurer les Français vendredi sur l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’UE. Il a en effet annoncé que les électeurs " auront leur mot à dire " le moment venu. Pour cela, le chef de l’Etat compte réviser la constitution française afin de garantir la tenue d’un référendum à l’issu des négociations d’adhésion. La majorité gouvernementale craint que la perspective de l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’UE ne perturbe le référendum sur la constitution européenne, prévu pour fin 2005, et qu’un " non " ne l’emporte. Pour éviter les amalgames, Nicolas Sarkozy avait suggéré, il y a dix jours, l’organisation d’un référendum sur la Turquie.

Le président de la République a aussitôt repris l’idée à son compte. Lors de sa rencontre avec Gerhard Schröder, il a annoncé qu’il avait demandé au gouvernement d’examiner, lors de la révision constitutionnelle, les conditions d’insertion d’une disposition permettant " de garantir qu’à partir d’une certaine date, et avant l’entrée éventuelle de la Turquie ", les Français soient " obligatoirement " interrogés par le biais d’un référendum. Le chef de l’Etat a précisé que le débat sur la constitution européenne n’avait " strictement rien à voir " avec la question turque. Il a cependant réaffirmé son soutien à l’entrée " dans 10 ou 15 ans " de la Turquie dans l’UE, afin, selon lui " d’enraciner la démocratie et la paix " en Europe. Gerhard Schröder a souligné que l’adhésion d’Ankara " serait une très bonne chose car elle permettrait d’établir un lien entre les valeurs européennes et l’islam non intégriste ". Cependant, le référendum n’aura pas lieu avant 10 ans. Mais cette perspective lointaine inquiète tout de même les Français. Ils serait 56%, selon un sondage Ipsos publié mardi dernier dans Le Figaro, à être opposé à l’entrée de la Turquie pour des raisons économiques, géographiques et religieuses. L’Elysée estime que ce délai de 10 ou 15 ans permettra d’y voir plus clair : soit la Turquie poursuit son évolution vers les valeurs européennes et l’adhésion ne sera plus un problème, soit elle s’oriente vers l’islamisme et son entrée dans l’UE ne sera pas possible.

La proposition de référendum divise cependant le milieu politique. Bernard Accoyer, président du groupe UMP à l’Assemblée, s’est félicité de cette initiative en expliquant que le chef de l’Etat était " attentif à associer le peuple français au plus près de la construction européenne ". François Bayrou, président de l’UDF et opposé à l’entrée de la Turquie en Europe, a pour sa part estimé que " l’annonce d’un référendum pour dans dix ans est une manière de duper les Français ". Selon lui, le vote devrait avoir lieu avant la décision du Conseil européen d’ouvrir ou non les négociations avec Ankara, prévue pour le 17 décembre. " Comment penser qu'après des années de négociations, d'exigences, de concessions réciproques, on demande au peuple français de dire non, alors que ses dirigeants n'auront pas osé le faire quand il était encore temps ? ", a demandé François Bayrou. Laurent Fabius, numéro deux du PS, a également déclaré qu’une " consultation dans quinze ans ne serait pas sérieuse ". Philippe de Villiers a qualifié la proposition du président Chirac de " faux semblant et d’écran de fumée ". Il a appelé " tous les Français qui veulent bloquer l’entrée de la Turquie à voter non au référendum sur la constitution ". Le parti communiste a dénoncé ce qu’il qualifie de manœuvre. " Comment justifier cette précipitation alors que la question ne se posera que dans dix ou quinze ans ? L’objectif de ce débat serait-il de ranimer les peurs et les divisions pour mieux faire oublier la constitution ultra-libérale de Giscard ? ", interrogent ses leaders.

 

 

http://www.armenews.com/New/news.asp?id_news=6419

[Siamanto]

By Gilbert Reilhac

 

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - President Jacques Chirac has promised to hold a referendum on Turkey's entry to the European Union if the bloc agrees to its accession, despite the risk that France could block its membership.

 

Bowing to political pressure for French people to have a say on Turkey, Chirac said he had urged the government to propose changes to France's constitution so that referendums have to be held on any other future enlargement of the 25-member bloc.

 

His call is likely to alarm Ankara and could cause concern among all prospective EU members.

 

"Let me reassure you right away -- the French people will have their say," Chirac told a news conference following talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Strasbourg in eastern France on Friday.

 

A referendum is unlikely for more than a decade. But an opinion poll this week showed 56 percent of French people oppose Turkey's immediate entry due to fears on jobs and concerns about letting in a mainly Muslim country that links Europe to Asia.

 

Chirac's ruling conservative party has also opposed Ankara's candidacy and called for a referendum, even though the president supports Turkey's accession.

 

Chirac's promises of a public vote are intended to prevent voters' concerns over Turkey clouding a referendum next year on the EU constitution and increasing the chances of France rejecting the treaty -- a vote which could torpedo it.

 

Chirac gave no details of the changes he wanted in France's constitution, apart from saying votes on future EU enlargement should be put to a public vote.

 

"It would be compulsory to ask the French people via a referendum on this enlargement or any other possible enlargements, and not via the parliamentary process," he said,

 

COMMISSION REPORT

 

The European Commission is expected to recommend in a report on Wednesday that the EU opens entry talks with Turkey. A final decision will be taken when EU leaders meet in December and the accession talks would be expected to last for several years.

 

There was no referendum in France before the EU expanded to 25 members in May. French people are concerned that France's influence in the EU has been diluted by enlargement and that the entry of a country of 71 million people will water it down more.

 

Chirac said he and Schroeder agreed that Turkey had made a lot of progress by introducing democratic and economic reforms but had not yet fulfilled all the terms for entry.

 

"We have an interest in having Turkey with us," Chirac said. "It creates a prospect of democracy and peace taking root on the whole of the European continent ... so that we avoid the mistakes and violence of the past."

 

France's foreign and finance ministers, both of whom are members of Chirac's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, have in the past few days proposed holding a referendum on Turkey's entry when the time comes.

 

There is some hope for Turkey. This week's poll showed 63 percent of French could one day foresee Turkey's accession.

 

Chirac did not make clear whether he wanted changes made to France's constitution in time for a further enlargement expected to take in Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. Croatia is expected to join the bloc soon after Romania and Bulgaria.

 

 

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticl...82&section=news

[Siamanto]

After a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, French President Jacques Chirac said Friday he supports a change to his country's constitution to allow for a referendum on Turkish EU membership.

 

 

 

Chirac, who has said he is personally in favor of Turkey's eventual EU accession, was speaking after talks with Schröder in Strassbourg that also focussed on the deteriorating security situation in Iraq and the next round of EU budget negotiations.

 

 

 

"I have asked my government to examine ways of inserting (into the constitution) a text stipulating that after a certain date -- before Turkey's eventual membership -- the French public be compulsorily consulted on new admissions to the EU," he said.

 

 

 

Chirac said that the clause -- which would be appended to the constitutional revision required by the adoption of the EU's new constitutional treaty -- would not apply to the next three member states, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, which are expected to join in 2007.

 

 

 

Chirac hopes the Turkish flag will eventually fly regularly next to the EU banner

He also said it was not specifically aimed at Turkey -- though the issue of Turkish membership has become a subject of fervent debate ahead of a December decision from Brussels on whether to open accession talks, and senior members of Chirac's government have themselves called for a national referendum on the issue.

 

 

 

EU constitution separate issue

 

 

 

Chirac's initiative was being seen as an attempt to separate the question of Turkish membership from the wider issue of the EU's new constitution, whose approval at a French referendum in the second half of next year is far from a foregone conclusion.

 

 

 

According to an opinion poll this week, some 56 percent of the French public are opposed to Turkish entry with only 36 percent in favor. The government fears the question will cloud debate in the run-up to the treaty referendum, making a no vote more likely.

 

 

 

Repeating his view that Turkey's eventual admission to the European Union is to be welcomed, Chirac said it would nonetheless take between 10 and 15 years for the country to carry out the reforms required by Brussels.

 

 

 

"We have an interest in having Turkey with us," Chirac said. "It opens the perspective of democracy and peace taking root on the whole of the European continent -- in the wider sense of the term -- so that we avoid the mistakes and violence of the past."

 

 

 

"Turkey has made a considerable effort recently to bring its legislation, methods and practices in line with the EU," Chirac added. "But these must advance still further before they respect the criteria on democracy and a market economy."

 

 

 

"A plus for European security"

 

 

 

Schröder said he shared the French position on Turkish entry, which he described as a "plus for European security."

 

 

 

Commentators said that the referendum proposal allows Chirac to defuse growing divisions within his ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party over Turkish membership.

 

 

 

French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy

Though the president supports the proposal "when the time is right," his main rival for the leadership of the centre-right -- Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy (photo) -- remains sceptical, as do Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and most of the UMP rank-and-file.

 

 

 

Schröder and Chirac also undertook to coordinate their positions on a proposed international conference on Iraq. Both countries support the idea, but Paris says it must discuss US withdrawal from Iraq and include members of the armed opposition.

 

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1344833,00.html