Chronology of the French referendum campaign

05.05
French ‘yes’ side getting two-thirds of air time.

Le Monde reports that the French broadcasting authority – the CSA – has reminded several television channels of the need for a balance in air-time given to the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’ campaigns. Airtime up to now has been dominated by the ‘yes’ campaign by a ratio of 63 to 37 percent, and this does not include the lengthy interventions by President Chirac in favour of the Constitution. The CSA is asking channels to apply the “principle of equality” in the campaign. The latest Ifop poll in France shows the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’ camps are neck and neck at 50-50. The poll represents a rise in support for the ‘yes’ campaign of 6 percent since the last Ifop poll in April

Le Monde

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21.04
French woo voters with subsidies.

The Telegraph reports that the Commission has approved a French scheme to subsidise transatlantic air trips for residents of the French colonies. These voters are widely seen as having swung the vote on Maastricht in 1992 but the Commission “categorically denied” that its backing for the scheme had anything to do with the referendum on the EU Constitution. The Commission normally frowns on national subsidies but it claimed that this case was different because aid would be granted whichever airline is used, making it a pan-European subsidy. The only carriers that run from these islands are French. - The Telegraph

Meanwhile Le Figaro reports that French lobby groups are taking advantage of the government’s weakness in the run-up to the referendum, to put forward their demands. The article notes the salary increases granted to public sector workers over the last few months in an effort to boost support for the government. It says the referendum has already cost the state budget 420 million euros, and that this will make it all the more difficult for the government to stay within the objective of a deficit of less than 3 percent of GDP. - Le Figaro

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18.04.
Une "approche pédagogique"

The official government's website on the EU Constitution says:
"Du 30 mars au 15 avril, ces spots télévisés seront diffusés sur l’ensemble des chaînes hertziennes et des chaînes locales, dans les DOM, les TOM et sur TV5 pour les Français de l’étranger. L’ampleur de cette campagne d’information a ainsi pour vocation de répondre aux exigences démocratiques d’information des citoyens. Aussi, ces spots télévisés ont pour principal objectif d’apporter une approche pédagogique de la Constitution européenne en vue du référendum du 29 mai prochain.

Par ailleurs, du 11 avril au 8 mai, une campagne d’affichage, financée par la Commission européenne et le Parlement européen, est mise en place dans plus de 600 gares et 6 réseaux de métros (Paris, Lyon, Rennes, Toulouse, Marseille, Lille)." - Lisez le text originale

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12.04
France blocks new wine tax.

The FT reports that the French government has blocked calls for a new minimum excise duty on wine. The move is seen as an attempt to help the French ‘yes’ campaign for the EU Constitution. - The Financial Times

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06.04
Raffarin uses subsidies to convince farmers.

Le Figaro reports that French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is “trying to convince” French farmers to support the EU Constitution, by allowing them to take around ten paid holidays per year.

Handelsblatt reports that the Government has also decided to spend 60 million euros prolonging the period during which farmers receive subsidies for oil by six months. The government is also attempting to negotiate a relaxation in hunting laws with Commission President José Barroso. - Le Figaro

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23.03
French ‘no’ campaigners attack “biased” dossier.

AFP reports that French ‘no’ campaigners are calling on the Government to scrap a biased “information dossier” which is to be sent to all 42 million voters by May 14. ‘No’ campaigners say the information is slanted, and that it does not acknowledge that there are any arguments against the EU Constitution.

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18.03
French campaigns to receive public funding.

Le Figaro reports that eight French parties will each receive up to 800,000 euros in public financing for their campaign for the referendum on the EU Constitution. No spending ceiling has been fixed, in order to “guarantee a democratic and pluralist debate”, according to Jean-François Copé, government spokesman.

According to Le Monde, these eights parties will also form the basis of the decision for allocating air-time in the media to the two sides of the debate. Four of the parties are in favour of the Constitution, and four are against. However, Le Monde deems this balance to be artificial, since some on the ‘yes’ side – like the French socialists - are split in the question of supporting or not the Constitution. The amount of air-time allocated to each side will be decided by the French broadcasting authority.

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15.03
20 million euros for French ‘yes’ campaign.

Le Figaro runs an interview with MEP Philippe de Villers, ahead of the launch of his ‘no’ campaign in Paris tomorrow. He says he has had no assurance whatsoever that he will receive public funding for his campaign, noting that the budget of the French Foreign Affairs ministry includes 10 million euros for the ‘yes’ campaign, plus 10 million from the European Parliament.

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11.03
‘Yes’ side to get four times more airtime than ‘No’.

The French media commission CSA has decided to split the allocation of TV airtime during the referendum by the number of seats held by parties in favour of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. MP Henri Emmanuelli called the decision “obviously undemocratic” and said it would mean the ‘yes’ campaign gets two hours airtime compared to a little over half an hour for the ‘no’ side.

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09.03
Towards public financing of the French referendum?

Yesterday’s Le Figaro ran an article on the attempts by several French party leaders to get President Chirac to review current legislation which does not allow for state aid to parties to run a referendum campaign. Currently, parties must make use of general party funds to run referendum campaigns, which is distributed according to the number of votes won in legislative elections. This means that those receiving the most money are the UMP, the Socialist Party, and the UDF, all of which support the EU Constitution. Philippe de Villiers and François Hollande would both like to see funding attributed on the basis of the results in the European elections last year.

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22.02
France steps up its ‘information’ campaign.

La Croix reported yesterday that the French government has stepped up its information campaign for the referendum by distributing 5 million copies of a 28-page leaflet about the EU Constitution. It was distributed in post offices and shopping centres yesterday. The leaflet’s introduction says that the Constitution guarantees “citizens’ democratic control”, “social progress” and “access to public services”. The government is also advertising its information ‘hotline’ on radio stations, which is now receiving 4,500 phone calls per day.

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09.02
France prepares for referendum; ‘no’ campaign awaits decision on public funding.

According to Le Figaro all voters will receive a total of 192 pages by post to help them decide how to vote. This includes a copy of the treaty (at 180 pages), a 5-page preamble, and the opinion of the constitutional council issued on 19 November when it requested the revision of the French constitution. The article says that 3.2 million Euros have been earmarked for the making of television advertising, which is currently subject to a call to tender among national channels.

The government is currently considering the request for public funding to be made available to the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns. Currently, there are no rules for public financing for referendum campaigns, as there are for elections. MP Jean-Pierre Chevènement has written to the French Prime Minister to request that funds be made available for a ‘no’ campaign to take place. According to the article, the state will spend nearly 75 million euros on the referendum, of which 40 million euros will be spent on the printing and posting of election material.

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07.02
French Government to spend 11 million euros on TV clips promoting Constitution.

L’Humanité reports that ahead of the start of the French Government’s official referendum campaign, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has earmarked 11 million euros for the making and screening of televised clips promoting the EU Constitution for public television channels. This decision follows the Government’s promise that the campaign would be “open, pluralist and non-partisan”. - L’Humanité

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14.01
Delay would endanger referednum result

Le Monde reports that Chirac is “furious” about ex-Prime Minister Edouard Balladur’s proposed amendment to the French constitution to provide for all EU documents have to be confirmed in the French parliament as this could delay the referendum and the government fears that the longer the campaign goes on the more chance of a ‘no’ vote.

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14.01
Chirac refuses to share public funds for EU referendum campaign.

Le Monde reports that Jacques Chirac has told the leader of the French Socialist Party François Hollande that he is “not favourable to the idea of public funding" apart from the governmental campaign.

Funding will not be made available for the ‘no’ campaign or the ‘yes’ campaigners outside the government however, the government itself will still spend 10 milllion euros promoting the Constitution. Hollande had asked him to grant funds to parties in proportion to the results of the European elections of June 2004.

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06.01
French government to spend 10 million Euro of tax-payers money promoting EU Constitution

Le Figaro reports that the French foreign ministry has appointed an agency, CLM BBDO to manage the yes-campaign on the EU Constitution. It will spend 10 million euros of tax-payers money on the campaign, which consists of two parts:

(1) the government will send out more than 20 million copies of the text to households. An educational leaflet, “Constitution - User Guide” has already been sent out among associations, institutions and trade unions, and an internet site and call centre have been set up to respond to questions from 10 January.

(2) A debate is to be launched by the government with the help of the new agency. It will consist of around 30 forums organised across different regions and hosted by Foreign Minister Michel Barnier and Europe Minister Claudie Haigneré.

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