Reax to Chirac speech as no campaign ahead in polls

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(27 May 2005) SHOTLIST • • 1. Wide shot of Paris kiosk • 2. Various of French newspaper headlines on Chirac's effort to persuade voters to vote 'yes' • 3. SOUNDBITE: (French) Vox Pop, Bertrand Buguet, No Voter: • I'm going to vote 'no' because I think to construct a very solid Europe you need define certain parameters and right now it's too unclear for me. • 4. SOUNDBITE: (French) Vox Pop, Rezicka Hellel, Yes Voter: • Yes - because I'm for Europe - there it is. • 5. Set up shot of Dominique Moisi, Political Scientist • 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dominique Moisi, Political Scientist, French Institute for International Relations: • Well, the latest polls show the no vote is gaining ground and of course we don't know the impact of last night's intervention by President Chirac. But if you look at the moral of the yes camp and the one of the no camp, it's difficult to have hesitation at to what the result will be. Unless a miracle occurs the no vote will win. • 7. Close-up of Le Parisien newspaper, headline reads: Panic in the Elysee • 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dominique Moisi, Political Scientist, French Institute for International Relations: • I think it's three things: the people are saying no to Chirac, they are expressing their fear and nearly despair at the high level of unemployment and they are expressing their reservation vis-a-vis Europe after enlargement. So it is the combination between (a) political, economic and European dimension. • 9. Moisi working at his desk • 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dominique Moisi, Political Scientist, French Institute for International Relations: • It means that France will be weakened in Europe and that Europe will be weakened in the world. It means that as the train of history accelerates in the world, Europe is making a pause, slowing down and looking at its navel and asking ourselves what am I, what should I do? • 11. Parisian street scene • • STORYLINE: • • The French on Friday were drawing to the end of a divisive campaign about the future of Europe and France's place in it, ahead of Sunday's referendum vote. • • Polls point to the likelihood that French voters will reject the EU's landmark constitution, planned as the next major step in a 50-year process of bringing together nations once divided by wars and mistrust. • • The latest opinion survey released by Le Figaro newspaper and Europe 1 radio suggested that 55 percent would vote no to the treaty, with 45 percent saying yes. • • On Friday, the last day campaigning permitted before the vote, both German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero planned to lend their support to French rallies for the yes camp. • • Some 42 million (m) people are registered to vote. Polling begins in France's overseas territories on Saturday, with voting on the mainland a day later. • • A no vote could, at least temporarily, kill off the treaty and its stated goal of closer European integration. • • Proponents say the constitution will streamline EU operations and decision-making and give the bloc a president and foreign minister. • • But French opponents fear it will lead to a loss of sovereignty and an influx of cheap labour. • • Dominique Moisi, of the French Institute for International Relations, said the no camp would win, unless a miracle occurs. • • He suggested voters would see the referendum as an opportunity to express discontentment over President Jacques Chirac, France's high unemployment, and the planned enlargement of the European Union. • • On Thursday, President Chirac made a solemn, last-ditch effort on television to convince the French to vote yes. • • • • • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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