French 'yes' and "no' camp square off on debate on EU constitution.

[Flagg]

PARIS, April 25 (AFP) -
Top representatives of France's political parties squared off Monday in a live televised debate on the European constitution, with Foreign Minister Michel Barnier urging a 'yes' vote in a May referendum.
Barnier, speaking for President Jacques Chirac's ruling center-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), warned that France's influence within the European Union would suffer should the country vote 'no' on May 29.
France "is not strong when it stands on its own," Barnier said during the more than two-hour debate, which descended several times into chaos, personal insults and recriminations about domestic policy.
Should France say 'no' to the EU treaty, "it will be more difficult for France. France wanted this constitution," the minister said.
More than 20 polls taken since mid-March have shown that French voters will reject the constitution in the May 29 referendum. Not a single survey has suggested that the 'yes' camp would win.
Barnier was joined on the 'yes' side of the debate by Francois Bayrou, president of the centrist Union for French Democracy (UDF), former Socialist culture minister Jack Lang and Dominique Voynet of the Greens.
Far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen headlined the forum's 'no' panel along with Communist chief Marie-George Buffet, far-left leader Olivier Besancenot and Philippe de Villiers, head of the nationalist Movement for France (MPF).
The two moderators on state-owned France 3 attempted to guide the debate, asking how the EU constitution would affect issues like agricultural policy and corporate relocations, but had difficulty keeping the participants on topic.
Le Pen argued that the best solution to the country's woes was to "renationalize France" by rejecting the constitution and thereby halting further European integration.

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