Irish 'No' won't stop EU reform, say officials

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

EUROPE must press on with ratifying the EU reform treaty and insist that Ireland resolve the impasse created by its "No" vote, officials and commentators said yesterday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the rejection should not spark a crisis, and confirmed that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had assured him he would pursue endorsement of the European Union reform pact.

"Today, 18 European states have ratified. The others must continue to ratify ... so that this Irish incident does not become a crisis," Sarkozy said.

Others also interpreted Britain's swift pledge on Friday to pursue ratification as a sign it would back a joint effort by France and Germany to salvage the pact, known as the Lisbon treaty, during the French Presidency of the EU later this year.

That would be in sharp contrast to 2005, when "No" votes in founder EU members France and the Netherlands sounded the death knell for the planned EU constitution which the Lisbon treaty was drafted to replace.

"This time the scenario is radically different," said Belgium's Le Soir newspaper in an editorial. "The idea is to completely isolate Ireland."

Others argued the referendum was not against the treaty itself but was hijacked by domestic issues and perceptions that the EU is elitist and bureaucratic.