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The Elys�e is optimistic that a looming French referendum on the EU constitution will not become a negative poll on the popularity of the government.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said he was "confident" about the French vote on the May 29.
Opening the referendum debate in the French National Assembly, Raffarin called for a fight against "confusion".
He warned that the vote would not be �a plebiscite or a motion of confidence or a motion of censure� in French President Jacques Chirac.
Raffarin insited that a "non" would "weaken" France. �France needs Europe, but Europe needs a 'yes' from France,� he told deputies.
Lib�ration is not impressed with campaign opening, branding a "sham debate" in the assembly as political parties did only "the minimum".
To boost support for the yes vote, the country�s 1.5 million hunters have been offered an extension of the shooting season for certain species by Raffarin.
And French ecology minister, Serge Lepeltier, has promised to delay a ban on lead cartridges.
Hunters have become the latest beneficiaries of the government's desperate attempts to garner votes amid low opinion polling for yes campaigners.
Le Monde reports that a gas price increase will not take place until July, although initially expected to be on May 1.
Backing the "non" to the EU Constitution, French communists are hoping to unite the leftist opposition.
Liberation reports that on April 14 the French Communist Party will welcome members of different left-wing groups for a meeting in Paris.
Both side of the EU constitution fight argue their stance is close to the ideals of former French President Charles de Gaulle.
De Gaulle has been voted as the Frenchman of all time in a TV poll reports the UK press.
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