European leaders insist their work will continue

EU FOREIGN policy chief Javier Solana yesterday vowed that the 25-nation bloc will remain an actor on the world stage, despite the political turmoil unleashed by France’s rejection of the EU’s constitution.

"Life continues. The EU will continue to be an actor," he said.

"The EU has been an actor before even we started to talk about a constitution. We'll continue to work 24 hours (a day) with the same energy that we've done before," he said.

The EU's industry commissioner, Guenther Verheugen, also said the situation should not be over-dramatised. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said: "The outcome of the referendum is a setback for the process of ratifying the constitution, but not its end."

Critics have suggested that the French "no" could plunge the 25-nation bloc into a prolonged period of introspection on its future direction, threatening to cloud its focus on foreign policy issues and create a domino effect in other countries, notably in tomorrow's vote in the Netherlands.

"There is a risk of contagion," European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso told French LCI Television.

A Dutch rejection is seen as making it harder for EU leaders to call repeat votes in countries that turn down the charter.

"It's always been said in the Netherlands we should not become Europe's village idiot by voting 'No'. This will give the Dutch more confidence to say 'No' to this constitution," Dutch Socialist Party member Harry van Bommel said.

With a renegotiation of the charter seen impossible, EU officials stress they have no "Plan B."

A spokeswoman said the European Commission was conducting an "in-depth analysis" of the French vote, but said that it was business as usual otherwise.

"We must draw a distinction between ratification of the constitution and the day-to-day running of Europe just because one country has said no to the treaty, it is does not call into question all EU policies," she said. "Europe has been through difficult times in the past and it has always managed to face up to the challenge."

Even without the constitution, the European Union will go on as before under existing treaties.

But the Sunday vote stalls the forward momentum of Europe and makes it more vulnerable to a period of economic and political uncertainty. It could paralyse decision making in the European Union for months.