Frans parlement plaveit de weg voor referendum (en)

The French parliament has paved the way for a referendum on the EU Constitution by changing the country's constitution.

Members of the Senate, the Parliament's upper house, approved the bill by a sound majority, as 263 voted in favour, 27 against and 30 abstained.

The amendment makes it possible for the new EU Constitution to be legally valid in France, while its adoption will be up to citizens to decide in a referendum.

The poll is expected in the first half of this year - the centre-right cabinet was planning to opt for a June vote, but it could yet bring it forward to May as recent surveys suggest a gradual fall in peoples' support towards the new EU treaty.

While the figures show 60 percent would still vote in favour, the no-campaigners have gathered strength after several recent social protests against the government.

Many opposition socialists argue that the new Constitution would strengthen the neo-liberal forces in the EU, but the party is officially in favour of the Constitution.

In an article in Le Figaro, Charles Pasqua, a former interior minister and leader of the UEN group in the European Parliament argues that a French rejection of the Constitution would be "salutary shock" for Europe.

Mr Pasqua writes that the Constitution would set up a 'New Europe' dear to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - who coined the term old and new Europe, subordinate the financial markets and integrate Europe into the 'New World Order'.