Voormalige premier Jospin sluit zich aan bij Franse 'ja'-campagne (en)

Former French prime minister Lionel Jospin will tomorrow (23 September) declare his eagerly-awaited position on the referendum on the Constitution in an opinion piece in Le Nouvel Observateur.

A noted pro-European, Mr Jospin is expected by most to campaign for a 'yes' vote with many commentators pointing to a speech he made this summer in which he said, "I am French, I feel European".

In the same speech, he praised the EU as "perhaps the first power which is not a dominating power" and noted that social justice "remains the hall-mark of the European Union".

And during the referendum on whether to adopt the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 - which the 'yes' camp won by a whisker - his position was "no to a no".

His opinion on the Constitution is very eagerly anticipated by French political observers because the party he formerly led - the Parti Socialiste (PS) is split down the middle on the issue.

The party leader François Hollande will campaign for a 'yes' vote, but his deputy and rival Laurent Fabius has attached conditions to his support for the text and recently hardened his position to a tougher 'no'.

The party is due to express its official position at the end of November and Mr Jospin's support for the 'yes' camp could swing the party towards this position.

If the referendum were held now, two-thirds of French voters would vote 'yes', according to a CSA poll unveiled yesterday (21 September) on French television.