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Non! -- Yes!


Mikey7
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I take back everything I've ever said about the French - yes, everything! They are the most wonderful and beautiful people on the planet!  Death to the EC, viva La France! Mwwaahh! Mwwaahh! The sooner they dismantle the ridiculous, corrupt, ultraliberal, dinasaur that is the EC the better. And what a bonus -- it's stuffed Blair! And another thing. Abolish the euro. Bring back the franc (and Joan of Arc, I love her songs).

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Why did the north west vote yes?

Afraid of being invaded again?  (But then you'd think the NE would vote the same way.)  One American commentator said last week that a no vote could mean the risk of another European war within the next 50 years.  M

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The French don't think they have a north west, I am not joking, they only have a north and a west. The north has very high unemployment, so there was a bit of a protest vote going on there. The west is relatively prosperous, so perhaps they did not protest. I think it is also worth bearing in mind that some of the non voters thought that the constitution didn't go far enough, and it would certainly be wrong to equate non voters with Eurosceptics as the first poster seems to do. Just look at Jose Bovay.
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If the EU did not exist you wouldn't be able to just decide to live in France would you? That is if you do of course.

We'd be in exactly the same position as so many other nationalities.  We'd still be able to live there, we'd just have to provide sound evidence that we were either financially self-supporting or gainfully employed, plus had adequate private health insurance, etc.  I know several non-EU nationals who've lived in France for years.  M

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Yes La Tourangelle is right, there's no such thing as NorthWest in France, well I never ever heard anybody refer to Le Nord Ouest in France, which would technically be Normandy or Haute-Bretagne.   Did you see the results in the Nord Pas de Calais ? something like 70% agst, with peaks at 80% in the old coadfields ('les bassins houillers'). I don't live in France but on the radio (France Inter, Europe, etc.) all the 'non' people they asked after the vote said that their Non was purely agst Chirac and his cronies, I know it's daft (as the referendum was meant to be for/agst constitution)but I can well understand their reactions, it seems to them that it is the only way someone will care to listen to them, at least for a few days !
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I live in the Pas de Calais and over the weekend spoke to lots of people about the referendum.   Only met one who was going to vote Yes.  But the reasons for voting no had nothing at all to do with the constitution, and seemed to be mainly based on fear of foreigners taking jobs (so the services directive, possible entry of Turkey into EU etc etc) , as well as dislike of Chirac and Raffarin.   I have always voted with the left but this time thought that the campaign they ran for the No vote was totally dishonest.   The fact that they teamed up with the national front to stir up scare stories about Polish plumbers etc makes it even worse.

Though I was in Switzerland yesterday and the first thing I saw when leaving the airport was a sign saying "Schengen?  Nein!"  together with a picture of what was presumably a Swiss person raising their hands to protect themselves against foreigners.   So everyone's at it.   Shame they have such short memories.

 

 

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Wow, there's nothing like putting an argument based on flimsy impressions in order to make a poor case.

Every poll of the non voters put issues around economic policy as the principal reasons for the non: a rejection of the neo-liberal policies the constitution sought to enshrine.

Which explains the opposition of those with most to loose from the destruction of the social democratic settlement. Evidence: 81 per cent of manual workers, 79 per cent of the unemployed, 60 per cent of white-collar workers and 56 per cent of “intermediary professions” voted “No”.

This was an extremely political campaign, with clarity of message from the non.

Why did France vote no? The media and right cannot bear the obvious answer: that the French No vote was exactly what it seemed to be, ie a rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty. No need to obfuscate the matter.

But why did the north and the west bit vote yes I wanna know.

Simon

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In that case I quote you this, from Le Monde, and the fact that the same paper, which I picked up in the airport on Tuesday, reported a poll which gave fear of unemployment and disapproval of the current government as the two factors which rated the highest in the decision to vote non, and the  'neo-liberal policies' of the constitution (which are not new and are already enshrined in existing treaties) as the least important factor in their decision.

Extrait : LE référendum se décidera autour des questions sociales. Pourtant, le social a donné lieu, dans la campagne, à nombre de contre-vérités ou de « vérités cachées », les partisans du oui comme du non revendiquant la « légitimité sociale » de leur vote. Il est d'autant plus difficile de s'y retrouver que l'opposition à la Constitution est liée à l'élargissement de l'Union, réalisé il y a un an. Lequel, contrairement à la Constitution, n'a jamais donné lieu à débat public ni à référendum. Pour preuve, les craintes - systématiquement attisées par les opposants à la Constitution - à propos des travailleurs polonais ou lettons.

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I live in Ile de france, & our town had a very high "oui"

We were taken out to lunch today by a work colleague of my husband who wanted to know what we thought of "their" referendum. Before we could really reply he got very agitated, said he was "furieux" with the whole thing, & that there should be a second vote immediately.

Because the French always have a second round in their Presidential elections, and everyone knows they always vote against the government first time round.......

As he said the first vote is with the "coeur" & the second with the "tete"
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I honestly pity you Rose, having to endure the wrath of your husband's colleague over a meal, for that to boot ! I used to hate that in France, the way a lot of people would get so inexplicably agitated about not much, be it politics or social issues, especially over a nice meal, the last place you want to be forced into expounding your theories on that or the other. Not many people do that but those who do it seem to be so flustered about not much, at least here (UK) I like the fact that it is so improper to talk about anything vaguely resembling politics with my colleagues !
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I hope you all have saved those 10 franc coins !!

Euro facing meltdown as Italy considers backing out

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=611492005

Further to my original post, now Italy wants to scrap the euro, and Germany may follow. So it looks as though my wish to 'bring back the franc' may come true after all. And best of all, the pound has been saved!!  So there is a God after all.     

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