Barroso makes cultural plea for Constitution

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, making a rare incursion into France during an EU referendum campaign, said the bloc's new constitution would reinforce Europe's cultural identity.

Mr Barroso, who diplomats say was asked by President Jacques Chirac to keep out of the sensitive French debate, made his comments in a closing address to a conference of pan-European cultural figures opened by Mr Chirac on Monday.

"Everything we hold dear in cultural matters is reinforced by the constitution," he said in prepared remarks.

The speech appeared aimed at swaying French intellectuals, some of whom have denounced the treaty as an "ultra-liberal" threat to subsidised culture and the French "cultural exception" from free trade rules.

The former Portuguese Prime Minister said the charter, on which France votes on May 29, enshrined the respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights incorporated into the constitution recognised liberty of expression and information, artistic and scientific freedom, and the right to the protection of intellectual property, he said.

"I would like to underline that in the cultural area, as in many others, the Constitution for Europe innovates while preserving what has been accomplished," Mr Barroso said.

The Commission chief bemoaned the fact that the EU's culture budget was a mere €35 million a year, equivalent to the budget of a medium-sized theatre, and "is not up to the level of ambition which the European Union should show".

But, while he hoped for a bigger allocation in the long-term EU budget for 2007-2013 now being negotiated, Mr Barroso said culture should remain principally a national responsibility.

French media reported that Mr Chirac intervened to cancel a planned prime-time television interview with Mr Barroso last month after the Commission chief irked Paris by publicly defending a draft law to liberalise the services market which had fuelled opposition to the treaty in France.