Strasbourg, 11/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Three weeks ahead of the French referendum on the Constitution, the French Green MEPs are speaking out in favour of the “ayes”, with passion and explanations. In a press release, Marie-Hélène Aubert raised a point which has been “curiously under-mentioned” in the debates, which is the common agricultural policy. This is not an abstract concept, and codecision in this field is an “essential step forward for ecologists”. The Constitution is essential for the affirmation of citizenship, said Gérard Onesta, who said that for the Greens, “Maastricht wasn't good, Amsterdam was bad and Nice was terrible”, we want something new, and “this something is called Constitution”. The EU has the most binding rules on the environment, pointed out Marie-Anne Isler-Béguin: without it (and without the five Green ministers present at the time), there would be no Kyoto Protocol. The people, especially young people, know it: if we are to continue on this trajectory, the “ayes” must have it. In a “quite” (but not “extremely”) liberal Europe, the Constitution could, in the view of Jean-Luc Bennhamias, give the Left and the Greens the chance to contribute to the bottom-up harmonisation of social policies. Hélène Flautre, president of the sub-committee on human rights, warned against underestimating the importance of the objectives and values enshrined in the Constitution: these are not just words, even though it is sometimes better understood from the outside than from the inside. Alain Lipietz concluded that the Constitution will allow more liberty from NATO and enshrined the free movement of goods and capital, but this liberty is necessary for the greater good of the overall picture. And, he added, the Constitution will allow rules on free movement to be established.