Juncker: "L'Europe ne fait plus rêver"[fr][de] 

The EU's political elites are struggling to explain why this rejection of the Union's Constitution is happening. They also are fighting to keep the ratification process going. 

Legally, according to Declaration 30 of the Constitution , the ratification process should be continued, but many political commentators and some member states (eg the UK and the Czech Republic) feel that, politically, the Constitution may be already dead and wonder if they should continue with the ratification.

Declaration 30 provides for the case that, two years after the signature of the treaty, four fifths of the member states have ratified and some member states have "encountered difficulties in proceeding with ratification". In that case, the matter will be "referred to the European Council".

Some countries fear that the downward spiral of 'no' votes will have a negative influence on the future voting in their countries. The Dutch vote seems likely to have been influenced in such a way by the French 'non' and opinion polls ahead of the Luxembourg referendum in July also indicate that the 'no' camp has benefited from the 'non' in France.

In a press conference on Wednesday evening 1 June, Mr Juncker pointed to the fact that the Dutch voted 'nee' based on other motivations than the French. "La somme des raisons contradictoires [for the No vote] ... est devenu impressionante", he added. "L"Europe ne fait plus rëver", the Council President said: "on n'aime pas l'Europe tel qu'elle est...".

Parliament President Borrell went along with Mr Juncker: "La peur a été plus fort que les rêves". 

The Luxembourg Council President also indicated that this crisis is undermining Europe's position in the world, as, in the US as well as in Asia, confusion reigns about the direction the EU wants to go. 

Mr Juncker promised that the next European Council on 16-17 June will prove that Europe works and called upon other member states not to take any "unilateral initiatives" before a collective analysis of the 'no' vote has been made, a message clearly directed at UK Prime Minister Blair who seems to be considering calling the referendum in his own country off. 

Asked about the chances that continuing the ratification process might lead to a downwards spiral, Juncker reacted cynically: "Maybe we are lucky that there are only 10 referenda."

When questioned on the chances of reaching a deal on the financial perspective during the next European Council meeting, Mr Juncker and Mr Barroso underlined that now more than ever European leaders should show leadership and broker a compromise to show that Europe works. For those who are questioning their financial contributions to the EU, the EU President had a warning saying that 2 weeks of war will cost a lot more than the EU budget for several years.