Ministry officials imply Ireland may have to vote again in Paris

FRENCH REACTION:THE FRENCH who campaigned against the constitutional treaty three years ago rejoiced in the Irish No yesterday.

However, the Élysée and foreign ministry said the ratification process must continue, and strongly implied that Ireland would have to vote yet again.

Socialist leaders regretted the Irish No, but admitted the treaty was dead.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will assume the six-month rotating EU presidency on July 1st, issued a terse, six-sentence joint statement with the German chancellor Angela Merkel.

“With all due respect, we take note of the democratic decision of the Irish citizens,” the Franco-German statement began, “even if we regret it.”

Mr Sarkozy and Ms Merkel continued: “We hope that the other member states will pursue the process of ratification. We are convinced that the reforms contained in the Treaty of Lisbon are necessary to make Europe more democratic and more efficient . . . ”

It took several hours for stunned French officialdom to recover from the shock.

Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the European affairs minister, initially described himself as “shattered” by the No. However last night he told The Irish Times he retracted the word “shattered”.

“I spoke in a moment of emotion. I am very committed to European integration, and I think the Lisbon Treaty truly represented great progress. I am disappointed – that’s the right term, not ‘shattered’. Europe has not broken down. Europe is not upside down. Europe has undergone a troublesome setback, but she continues to advance.”

The Taoiseach telephoned Mr Sarkozy to discuss preparations for a European Council meeting on June 19th-20th.

“We will hear the Irish analysis, and what they propose,” Mr Jouyet said.

Sources close to Mr Sarkozy said there were only two solutions: for the Irish to re-vote or for an as-yet undefined legal mechanism to bind Ireland to EU institutions if Ireland does not ratify the treaty.

“We do not doubt that Irish leaders will have the means to convince their population to change their minds,” said Frédéric Lefebvre, the spokesman for Mr Sarkozy’s UMP party. “This No is an obstacle that we must overcome with determination.”

Mr Lefebvre noted that Ireland “has received a lot from Europe financially” – a ubiquitous refrain here.

French sources were unanimous in saying there could be no renegotiation of the treaty.

Sylvie Goulard, the president of the Mouvement Européen France, said she felt she was reliving “the same nightmare as in 2005” when 56 per cent of French voters rejected the constitutional treaty.

“I see no reason for the Irish to vote again unless the question is: Do you want to leave or do you want to stay in Europe?” Ms Goulard added.

Meanwhile, those who led the 2005 No campaign crowed like roosters. “The Irish have done us a political favour,” said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the socialist senator who defied his party’s policy to attack the previous treaty. “Through the Irish we’ve got revenge for being deprived of a referendum in France.” (The French parliament ratified the Lisbon Treaty last February.) Jacques Myard, a renegade, Eurosceptical member of the ruling UMP, said: “By voting No the Irish people have just saved Europe from a very bad treaty” which he called “a cut and paste version of the constitutional treaty rejected by the French and Dutch people”. This “third rejection” provided “a chance to start building Europe all over, to reconcile it with the will of the people,” Mr Myard said.