"It would be totally irresponsible to organise a referendum in
France at the moment," Juppe said in the newspaper Le Monde newspaper.
Europe first needed to be "re-invented", he said.
France's Juppe calls for referendum on a new EU project
Europe needs to be reinvented according to a new plan that could be put to an EU-wide referendum later, but it would be "totally irresponsible" to hold a plebiscite in France before that, France's would-be president, Alain Juppe, said on Monday.
Speaking after Britain voted to leave the EU, Juppe also said Britain's exit should be dealt with quickly.
"It
would be totally irresponsible to organise a referendum in France at
the moment," Juppe said in the newspaper Le Monde newspaper. Europe
first needed to be "re-invented", he said.
"A referendum will (then) be needed at some stage in Europe's reconstruction, not only in France but all countries concerned," Juppe said.
He
joins a growing chorus of French politicians who since the Brexit vote
have called for an EU-related referendum in France, among them President
Francois Hollande's economy minister, Emmanuel Macron.
But
with the exception of the far-right National Front, those calls are to
vote on some new form of EU project or treaty, not on membership of the
bloc.
In a country that is increasingly
disillusioned with Europe, the outcome of a referendum would be hard to
predict. In 2005, a proposed new EU constitution was blocked by
referendums in France and the Netherlands.
Juppe,
prime minister from 1995 to 1997, is campaigning to persuade the
conservative Les Republicains party to nominate him rather than
ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy in November's primaries.
Polls rate him above Sarkozy among right-wing voters, and he has the
advantage of appealing more to left-wingers, too.
On
the EU's future, Juppe staked out a number of positions. Membership
expansion should be halted, he said, and the remit of EU institutions
pared back. Euro zone convergence on tax and social
matters should be intensified and a new deal struck on control of the
EU's external frontiers.
The Schengen accord on
freedom of movement for people in the EU has not worked, he said. That
raises the question of whether the EU's external frontiers should be
policed by a European border control force.
"One thing is certain," said Juppe. "The Europe of tomorrow will clearly operate more than now at variable speed levels. The United Kingdom's departure should allow those who want to forge ahead faster to do so. It's an opportunity we should seize."