4.5.05

"Ultra-liberal" censurado

No fewer than nine out of 25 European commissioners were in Paris on Tuesday, trying to repair strained relations between Brussels and Paris, and to campaign for a Yes vote in France's May 29 referendum on the EU constitution.
Commission president José Manuel Barroso was there too, but kept a low media profile to avoid incurring the wrath of President Jacques Chirac, who regards the Portuguese as the face of "ultra-liberalism" in Brussels.
According to French media reports, Chirac personally intervened last month to stop Barroso appearing on a French political discussion programme.

O L'Express já tinha dado conta desta tensão entre o presidente da comissão e o presidente francês. O jornal enquadra a liberdade de expressão no debate sobre o referendo europeu:
La Constitution européenne, que le chef de l'Etat demande aux Français d'adopter, stipule, dans l'alinéa 1 de l'article II.71, que le droit à la liberté d'expression «comprend la liberté de recevoir ou de communiquer des informations ou des idées sans qu'il puisse y avoir ingérence d'autorités publiques et sans considération de frontières».