Monday, May 30 2005 10:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Brussels: European leaders acknowledged a stinging rebuke after French voters massively rejected the bloc's first constitution, but insisted the grand project of greater integration was not dead.

In France, some politicians demanded the resignation of President Jacques Chirac, who had put his prestige on the line in favour of a "yes" vote.

The European Union (EU) Presidency said the process of ratifying the constitution - France was the 10th country to pronounce on the treaty yesterday (May 29, 2005), but the first to say no - would carry on regardless of the result.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country holds the EU rotating presidency, said, "The process of ratification must continue in the other countries."

He told reporters in Brussels that it was "impossible to renegotiate the constitution", which is aimed at preventing decision-making gridlock in the expanding 25-nation bloc.

But he acknowledged "a heavy heart" about the French referendum, in which some 55 percent of voters chose to reject the treaty.

In theory the constitution needs to be ratified by all EU countries to come into force, and the French vote is widely perceived as leaving the EU charter virtually dead in the water.

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, a key ally of Chirac and the other half of the Franco-German motor behind much of the EU integration drive, said the vote was "a setback" but did not mean the end of the road.

In the Netherlands, which is to hold its own referendum on Wednesday (June 1, 2005), Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende voiced his disappointment but renewed an appeal to Dutch voters to approve the constitution.

Opinion polls show Dutch voters are also likely to reject the text.

"We are disappointed ... but the process of ratification continues and the result gives the Dutch one more reason to vote yes," Balkenende said.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country has now ratified the treaty after an overwhelming referendum in favour, also said the process must continue, a Government spokesman reported.

"The result of the referendum in France is not good news, but it is not a catastrophe," the spokesman added, putting the result down to domestic issues - unhappiness with Chirac's centre-right Government.

There was a similar response from Italy - "it's a negative vote but Europe won't stop there", European Affairs Minister Giorgio La Malfa said - although a spokesman for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's party conceded that it had "sounded a big alarm across Europe".

Austria was more forthright, demanding an explanation from France.

"We cannot simply carry on as if nothing has happened," Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said in a statement.

In Sweden, Prime Minister Goeran Persson said the vote was "a setback for the French president and his Government, it is a setback for the ratification process and it is an enormous setback for the prospects of Europe".

The vote in France could also give Britain, whose public is traditionally euro sceptic, a chance to rethink its promise of holding its own referendum.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the result "raises profound questions for all of us about the future direction of Europe".