"French parliament votes on referendum on EU admissions
www.chinaview.cn 2005-01-28 08:59:21
PARIS, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- French parliament members voted Thursday for a compulsory referendum allowing new European Union (EU) admission bids, which will be applied to Turkey if its EU admission negotiations conclude.
The parliament members adopted in first reading the Article 2 of the bill to modify French constitution by stipulating that future EU admission bids should be necessarily submitted to referendum by French people.
French President Jacques Chirac's ruling central-right party UMP voted for the bill, while French left parties Socialist Party and French Communist Party voted against. UMP's allies UDF abstained from the voting.
According to French Justice Minister Dominique Perben, the article is helpful to clarify debates and prevent super position between the referendum scheduled for this summer over the European constitution and the thorny issue of the Turkish bid for EU.
The parliament will vote later article 4 of the bill, which stipulates that this referendum will be applied only after the admission of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia to the European Union. "
Xinhua - English