Constitution: all eyes on Spain

The widely expected answer in Spain is 'yes'. In a new Eurobarometer survey, for which fieldwork was conducted in November 2004, 56% of the Spanish people polled said they were 'favourable' to the draft European Constitution, while 7% were opposed and 37% were undecided.

But the latest Eurobarometer poll also showed a high level of ignorance about the European Constitution in Spain. One-third (33%) of the respondents said they had not heard about the new treaty at all and 55% said they knew very little about its contents. Only 12% of the respondents said that overall they knew what it was about. 

To remedy the knowledge gap which could easily lead to a low turnout during the 20 February vote, the Spanish government launched an information campaign about the EU Constitution, costing 7.5 million euro. The Constitution was handed out at football games and with Sunday papers. It has been widely and publicly discussed by football stars and media personalities. And especially during the week ahead of the vote, the 'euro-enthusiast' Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero travelled around the country with the aim of raising awareness and generating a positive mood among Spanish people towards the European Constitution. "A 'yes' sends out a message to all Europeans and to ourselves as Spaniards that we wish to proclaim the foremost values of (European) cohabitation," he told a Madrid rally. He also reminded Spanish voters of the economic benefits the EU has brought for Spain over the years.

The prime minister has among his campaign supporters moderate Basque and Catalan nationalists, as well as the conservative opposition Popular Party. The main line of opposition is coming from parties such as the United Left, the Catalan Republican Left and the Galician Nationalist Party, which have called on their supporters to reject the treaty. Spain's former prime minister, José María Aznar also urges a 'no' vote, arguing that Spain will lose much of its current influence inside the EU [The Conservative Aznar has been cited as one of the key opponents to an agreement on the Constitution in December 2003. He sided with Poland, a country of similar size, in refusing a change to the voting weight granted to them by the Nice Treaty. The deadlock was broken following a surprise victory by the Socialists in Spain's elections in March 2004].

Top EU politicians have given strong support to Spain in the campaign, recognising the importance of the domino effects of a strong 'yes' in the first referendum. The French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder have travelled to Spain to support Mr Zapatero's 'yes' campaign.

On Spain's request, the Commission has also supported the Spanish 'yes' campaign. Moreover, it has earmarked a sum of around eight million euro to be used for information campaigns on the EU Constitution in 2005. The funds, which are channelled via the Commission offices in the member states, are then spent on informing the groups of citizens who know the least about the Constitution. 

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was quick to warn Brussels not to spend money promoting the EU Constitution in Britain where awareness of the new EU treaty is very low. "We have asked the Commission to make sure they don't spend any money on promoting a 'yes' vote in the UK, and they have agreed to that," he said on 16 February.