Misuse of funds claim in French EU Constitution row
Twenty-two lawmakers opposed to the EU constitution asked France yesterday to suspend millions of euros in public funds used to promote the charter ahead of France’s May 29 referendum.
The Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, said it would urgently rule on the request at a public hearing tomorrow.
The deputies and senators – Socialists, Communists, Greens and far-leftists – had sought an urgent ruling.
At a news conference, the group denounced what it said was the spending of public funds on “propaganda” in favour of a “yes” vote in the referendum.
EU officials, and other member countries, have been concerned about a possible rejection in France, where many are wary of further European integration. Some have come here to help make a case for a “yes” vote.
Communist Party leader Marie-George Buffet said electoral laws forbid financing campaigns with public funds.
The 22 denounced a “hyping of for the ’yes’ under the pretext of pedagogy.”
They are specifically asking that funds for an ad campaign in which 14,000 posters have been hung this month be cancelled along with money for so-called “information initiatives” and debates.
Buffet said: “I’m not talking about the scandalous way in which the head of state claims the sovereign right to hours and hours of TV time to campaign for the ’yes.”’
Source: PA
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