February 18, 2005

Abstract: (Angus Reid Consultants - CPOD Global Scan) - Support for France's Jacques Chirac fell for the third month in a row, according to a poll by Ifop published in Paris Match. 53 per cent of respondents approve of the president's performance, a two per cent drop since January.

(Angus Reid Consultants - CPOD Global Scan) - Support for France's Jacques Chirac fell for the third month in a row, according to a poll by Ifop published in Paris Match. 53 per cent of respondents approve of the president's performance, a two per cent drop since January.

Chirac won the presidential election in 1995, and was re-elected in a run-off over Jean-Marie Le Pen in May 2002. The head of state's popularity increased in late 2002 and early 2003 due to his vocal opposition to armed conflict in Iraq without an explicit mandate from the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin keeps lower numbers. 38 per cent of respondents approve of the prime minister's performance, a two per cent increase in a month.

On Feb. 15, Chirac called on industrialized nations to exceed the targets set by the Kyoto Accord to combat global warming, saying, "We must go further—divide by four by 2050 the greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries. The next G-8 summit must be an opportunity for advancing in this direction."

Polling Data

Do you approve or disapprove of Jacques Chirac's performance as president?

	Feb. 2005	Jan. 2005	Dec. 2004
Approve	53%	55%	57%
Disapprove	46%	45%	42%

Do you approve or disapprove of Jean-Pierre Raffarin's performance as prime minister?

	Feb. 2005	Jan. 2005	Dec. 2004
Approve	38%	36%	38%
Disapprove	62%	64%	62%

Source: Ifop / Paris Match
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,008 French adults, conducted on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4, 2005. No margin of error was provided.