Chirac wenst een volledige herziening van de ontwerp-Dienstenrichtlijn (en)

The EU's proposed services directive is "unacceptable", French President Jacques Chirac has said, calling for a "complete overhaul" of the controversial legislation.

A spokesman for Mr Chirac said, according to Le Monde, "The President of the Republic reminded the President of the Commission that the services directive was unacceptable for France as well as for other European partners and that it needs to be completely overhauled".

The directive, which aims to liberalise the market in services, has caused a political row, mainly over the so-called 'country of origin' principle, which would allow service providers to operate in other EU countries under their domestic laws.

And Mr Chirac's comments follow a similar increase in the rhetoric by Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso i who on Monday (14 March) set out the possible advantages of liberalising the market in services - some 37 billion euro, according to economic studies quoted by Mr Barroso.

The directive - described recently by the Commission President as "the dreaded services directive" - has also caused rows within the college of Commissioners, with public spats between Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen i and Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy i.

Referendum impact

The French leader's strong remarks are undoubtedly intended to head off criticism from opponents of the Constitution, for whom the services directive has become a major campaign issue.

"No" campaigners, especially on the left-wing of French politics, argue that the best way to prevent the unpopular proposal coming into force is to reject the Treaty.

And opposition to the Constitution is growing in France, according to the latest opinion polls.

A survey published on Wednesday (16 March) in Le Monde showed that support for the Constitution had dropped by almost 10 points in three months.

Now, only 56 percent of voters intend to vote "yes" in the referendum on 29 May, compared to 65 percent who expressed this intention three months ago.

Almost two thirds of French voters have now made up their mind which way they will vote, according to the poll, with a slight advantage to the "no" side amongst decided voters.

82 percent of decided voters said they would oppose the Constitution, with 76 percent saying they would be voting "yes" in the poll.