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EU in Tactical Retreat to Save French Referendum
EFL: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders rushed to the rescue of President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday in a bid to save a knife-edge French referendum on the EU constitution by retreating on a disputed bill to open up the services sector. Their decision to send a draft deregulation law back to the drawing board was a victory for Chirac and other west European critics of unbridled competition from low-cost east European countries, but a setback for bold EU economic reform plans. At their two-day summit, the 25 leaders also agreed to ease the bloc's battered budget deficit rules and stepped back from ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The leaders told the executive European Commission to revise its draft to meet the requirements of "the European social model" with high standards of labor and consumer protection. "France is an essential, indispensable country in Europe. The Europe we want wouldn't exist without France's contribution," Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. If France, a founder member, voted against the charter, it would plunge Europe into political crisis. Chirac said a defeat for the constitution, intended to streamline EU institutions and provide stronger leadership for the recently enlarged bloc, was "It is certain that if France blocked the European project, the consequences would not be insignificant and it would lose a large share of its authority, which is necessary, in the Europe of tomorrow," he told a news conference in Brussels. Posted by: Steve 2005-03-23 |
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