It is beginning to feel like 1992. Then, within hours of Denmark saying No to Maastricht, François Mitterrand deliberately went for a referendum of his own to show the Danes how big an integrationist vote a founding member of the European Union could deliver. It voted Yes by a fraction over 1 per cent. Jacques Chirac, French president, is approaching his May 29 referendum on the EU constitution with slightly less hubris. But suddenly it seems as though those French diplomats trying to work out the consequences of a No vote in other EU states' referendums have been looking in the wrong place.

For the first time, a French opinion poll yesterday showed a slight majority (51-49 per cent) against the EU treaty, with pro-treaty support down 14 percentage points since the survey three weeks ago. This precipitous drop probably reflects the rash of protest strikes at public sector pay and relaxation of the 35-hour working week over that period. Since the government's attempts at pay restraint stem from EU fiscal guidelines, it all feeds into France's progressive disenchantment with an EU that it, and others, long believed had been fashioned in Paris's image and to its liking.