Stability and instability

摘要

President jacques chirac chose July 14th to announce that France would, after all, hold a referendum on the draft European Union constitution, probably in the second half of 2005. It was time, he said, to "bet on Europe". With an unpopular government and uncertainty in France about today's EU of 25, this could be a big gamble. But in truth Mr Chirac had little choice. He was cornered abroad, notably by Tony Blair's decision to have a referendum in Britain, a move that hugely upset Paris. At home, he was under pressure from his own party. The prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, and the finance minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, had both come out for a referendum. Besides, direct consultation is a fifth-republic tradition: there have been nine referendums since 1958.