France restates opposition to Christianity reference

France reaffirmed its opposition to any mention of Christianity in the European Constitution yesterday, saying the reference in the preamble text to the continent's religious heritage was sufficient.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Foreign Minister Michel Barnier clarified their position after legislators from both government and opposition ranks asked whether Paris was buckling under pressure from traditionally Catholic countries.

France has long opposed mentioning Christianity in the text as a violation of the separation of church and state, but Mr Raffarin raised doubts about this on Monday by saying that Paris wanted a consensus on the issue.

"I said this text should be the point of consensus. There is no reason to change this text," Mr Raffarin told France-Inter radio. France's position, which is generally favourable to the constitution, was unchanged, he said.

The draft constitution says in its preamble that Europe is "inspired by its cultural, religious and humanist inheritance". Later yesterday, after a Socialist deputy challenged Raffarin to defend France's traditional secularism, Mr Barnier responded by saying the current text was "balanced and fair".

"France continues to think we should stick to it," he added, saying it was acceptable to all Europeans "no matter what their faith, convictions or philosophy".

Advocates of enshrining Europe's Christian roots in the constitution appeared to be losing their battle at a foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday against countries backing a more secular version of the charter.

Belgium, France and many other countries rejected pressure from seven member states, many with strong Roman Catholic traditions, to make explicit reference to Europe's Christian tradition in the planned charter.