Mr Chirac pushed the automatic referendum on future EU enlargements on the eve of the 2005 referendum on the European constitution, hoping that the French would be more tempted to vote "yes" to the constitution if they knew they could vote separately on the unpopular issue of Turkish membership at a later stage.

But according to the veteran EU correspondent of French newspaper Liberation, Jean Quatremer, Mr Chirac's recent heritage could be put into question quickly by his successor Mr Sarkozy.

The new president last month tasked a "Reflection Committee" of senior politicians and experts to re-think the overall institutional balance of the French Republic.

Mr Sarkozy is hoping that this committee will also advise scrapping the compulsory referendum on EU accessions, Mr Quatremer writes on his blog.

The referendum clause - which could lead to a series of French "no" votes against new states knocking on the EU's door - is reportedly disliked not only by Mr Sarkozy, but also by large parts of the country's political establishment.

The clause would affect not only Turkey, but also other EU hopeful states with a future membership perspective, such as Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and possibly an independent Kosovo.

Only Croatia, which hopes to become a fully-fledged EU member already before the end of the decade, has been explicitly exempted from the mechanism.

Negative votes would likely lead to a diplomatic crisis with the EU hopeful states and is already limiting French diplomacy's room of manoeuvre, the Liberation blog says.

Sarkozy and Turkey

The report is nevertheless surprising as Mr Sarkozy is known as a staunch opponent of Turkey's membership bid, saying on several occasions during this year's election campaign that Ankara has "no place" in the EU.

Getting rid of the automatic accession referendum would deprive him of an important political tool to eventually block Turkish membership, with polls consistently showing that a large majority of the French are hostile to the idea.

The president has not explicitly said he wants to scrap the planned Turkey referendum, with the Liberation blog only quoting an anonymous "minister" in Mr Sarkozy's government.

But Philippe Moreau Defarges, a senior researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) said "being against Turkish membership can well go hand in hand with being against the referendum."

"In Sarkozy's his vision, parliament should play a more central role in political life, including on European matters," Mr Defarges indicated, adding that Mr Sarkozy has also been strongly resisting the idea of a referendum on the new EU treaty.

"One could well say: I am against Turkey being an EU member, but I have confidence in the parliament," he stated.

'Very difficult'

Another factor is that France's new president seems keen to dismantle the political heritage of his predecessor Chirac - one of his major political archrivals. "Sarkozy is very eager to make undone what Chirac has achieved. That account has not been settled yet," according to Mr Defarges.

But in order to have the referendum clause deleted from the French constitution, Mr Sarkozy would need a three-fifth majority in the French 'Congress' - a body combining the country's national assembly and the senate.

This means he would need the support of the opposition socialists, who have already indicated they will not make it easy for the centre-right president to pass any institutional reforms.

"It would be very difficult to push this through," Mr Defarges stated.