Struggling to defuse the EU's worst political crisis in decades, the leaders of its 25 nations on Thursday abandoned their plan to ratify their first constitution by next year.
But they did not declare the document dead, just froze it in what was described as a "period of reflection" that could become permanent after the humiliating defeat of the constitution in referendums in France and the Netherlands.
"We cannot just go ahead as if nothing has happened," Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister and the departing EU president, said at a news conference after the Thursday session of a summit meeting here. He called the November 2006 target date for all nations to ratify the document "no longer tenable."
But neither he nor any other leader was ready to bury the constitution, even though it cannot be put into effect unless all 25 nations approve it. Instead, there seemed to be an effort to move forward for the sake of movement, to attribute the constitution's rejection not to a lack of leadership or to flaws in the document but to the public's lack of knowledge and understanding.
"The constitution met their concerns, so what we have to do is explain the constitution in more detail," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, the union's administrative arm.
In an uneasy compromise, the 13 countries that have not yet voted on the constitution will be able to choose whether to cancel or go forward with ratification.
But at a news conference after Thursday's meetings, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek of the Czech Republic announced that his country would postpone ratification indefinitely. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark made a similar declaration, saying a referendum "makes no sense," and adding, "We will postpone a vote until there is sufficient clarity."
Britain has already announced a suspension of a popular vote, and Ireland and Poland are expected to follow suit. Even Luxembourg is wavering, and Juncker said his country's parliament would have to decide whether to go forward with a vote in July. Ten nations have ratified the document.
Reflecting the turmoil in Thursday's meeting, President Jacques Chirac of France for the first time threw into doubt what had been a given: the continuing enlargement of the EU.
"In this new situation, can the union continue to expand without the institutions capable of making this expanded union function efficiently?" Chirac said at the meeting in remarks made public afterward.
His remarks are the starkest but not the only indication that the expansion of the EU might be sacrificed because of the crisis. In a debate before the French Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin suggested that the addition of 10 members into the union in May of last year was one of the reasons French voters rejected the constitution.
While he said France should uphold its commitment already made to Romania and Bulgaria, which are scheduled to become members in January 2007, he added, "Beyond that, while respecting our commitments, we should definitely open a period of reflection with our partners on the forms of future enlargement."
Delayed Memberships
That suggests that France opposes the EU's decision to begin formal talks later this year for the eventual membership of Turkey and Croatia.
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