Brussels, 14/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 11 September, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French Secretary of State for European Affairs, suggested that the obligation set out in the French Constitution whereby any new accession to the EU should be put to referendum should be reviewed. “The idea should be looked at again”, said Bernard Poignant, President of the French Socialists at the European Parliament. In a press release, he says that “this method was absurd being valid not just for Turkey but also for Macedonia, the Balkans, Iceland and Norway if they, too, want to be members of the EU one day”. Article 88-5 of the French Constitution, a provision that Jacques Chirac had advocated, “can put France in difficulty towards countries that have an undeniable and undisputed aspiration to join the EU, such as Macedonia and the Balkans”, Jouyet had said early in the week before the discussion committee on the institutions. “France might block the accession process when the time comes although all the conditions have been met”, he had said, considering it preferable to leave the choice of ratification means (referendum or by parliament) up to the head of state. (ab)