Wednesday, June 1 2005 08:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Paris: French President Jacques Chirac ousted his faithful Prime Minister yesterday (May 31, 2005) as Europe agonised over the fate of the European Union (EU) constitution and Dutch voters prepared to land the blow that could ultimately consign the treaty to the scrap heap.

Chirac replaced Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who had become the focus for massive public disenchantment with the centre-right administration, with Dominique de Villepin, another close ally who had been Interior Minister.

The overhaul was a response to Sunday's (May 29, 2005) referendum on the EU's first-ever constitution, when nearly 55 per cent of French voters rejected the text despite Chirac's best efforts.

The defeat has slammed the brakes on the EU leadership's grand integration drive, throwing the bloc into crisis and triggering an anguished debate about its future direction.

In the Netherlands, which holds its own referendum today (Jun 1, 2005), opinion polls show voters are also likely to reject the treaty, exposing - as in France - an apparent disconnect between a governing elite largely in favour of the text and a suspicious wider population.

Nevertheless, the EU commission in Brussels reiterated that it is not making any contingency plans.

"There is still no plan B," said spokeswoman Francoise Le Bail yesterday. "We have to wait for the next step tomorrow evening," he added.

EU leaders have a chance to regroup at a June 16-17 summit in Brussels but quite what they will be able to agree on then is unclear, with nine of the 25 countries having already ratified the treaty.

The constitution - designed to streamline and harmonise how the expanding bloc is run - must be ratified by every country to take effect.