Steun Frans electoraat voor EU-grondwet kalft af (en)

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has said that a "non" to the Constitution in France would be a "terrible shock" to the EU as a new poll shows support for the Constitution waning.

Mr Raffarin said, according to Le Monde, "the first country to say no will be taking an historical responsibility, it will be a terrible shock in the European Union".

"It will call into question a process that started with a never again after the second world war", he added, warning, "no-one will wait for us. Europe does not wait for laggards".

The dire warnings comes as a new survey shows support for the "yes" camp falling in France, despite remaining in front by a considerable margin.

A Louis-Harris poll published yesterday showed 61 percent of French voters in favour of the Constitution, against 39 percent opposed.

But the same poll conducted last October showed a 69-31 margin of victory for the "yes" camp. The gap has closed by 16 points in four months.

However, more than half of people (52 percent) say they are "not interested" in the debate on the Constitution.

A referendum is expected in France before the summer, but no exact date has yet been fixed.