PRESIDENT Jacques Chirac said tonight in a televised address to the nation that France’s “no" vote to the European constitution was “not the rejection of the European ideal.”

Instead, the French leader said, the outcome of Sunday’s referendum was a demand for action and results, explaining his decision to appoint a new prime minister earlier in the day.

“You are calling for determined, immediate action to respond as soon as possible to the present difficulties, which are unemployment and spending power,” said Chirac, in a tacit acknowledgment of widespread dissatisfaction with his economic policies.

Some 55 percent of voters rejected Chirac’s call for ratification of the European Union constitution.
France was the first of the bloc’s 25 nations to say “no; to the treaty.

“This vote does not signify the rejection of the European ideal,” he said. “It’s a demand for listening, it’s a demand for action, it’s a demand for results.”

In the referendum, Chirac said, “strong, diverse - and at times, contradictory - expectations were expressed, and they come together in a feeling of dissatisfaction and
insecurity in today’s world.”

Chirac blended a pep-talk delivery with acknowledgment that many French are angry. He said preserving France’s way of life hinges on staying part of Europe and holding true to a “French model; based on economic dynamism, solidarity and labor dialogue.

It “is not an Anglo-Saxon type model, nor is it a model synonymous with ’immobility’,” he said.
He said the “no; vote “opened a period of difficulty and uncertainty for Europe and for France; and said all options were on the table to reduce public anxiety.

“Faced with the current situation, as with other difficult moments in our history, we have to react, to reunite, overcome our difficulties and get past the blockades to move our country ahead,” he said.

Chirac confirmed that he was bringing Nicolas Sarkozy, a two-time minister and potential rival, back into the new government “in a spirit of coming together.”

Chirac said creating jobs would be the priority of the new government, which will be led by Dominique de Villepin, appointed prime minister earliertoday.

Unemployment is running at 10 percent. Among the under-25s, the rate is 23.3 percent.

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