Poland deals new blow to EU constitution

Poland dealt a fresh blow to the European Union's wounded constitution, saying it may delay a planned referendum despite efforts…

Poland dealt a fresh blow to the European Union's wounded constitution, saying it may delay a planned referendum despite efforts by France, which voted against the charter first, to keep the treaty alive.

Aleksander Kwasniewski, president of the bloc's largest new member, said he might put off the vote from his favoured October date if next week's EU summit took no decision on the fate of the constitution.

Poland should not set a date until the bloc had discussed the crisis caused by the rejection of the charter by French and Dutch voters, he told public radio in an interview, noting Britain had just shelved plans to hold its own referendum.

Kwasniewski raised the prospect that EU leaders might either decide on June 16-17 to call a pause in ratification, or fail to agree on any joint way forward.

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"(At the summit) we may decide to give ourselves a few months and meet (again) when we are better prepared," he said. "A lack of a decision is also a decision."

Opinion polls in countries such as Denmark, Poland and even Luxembourg, which plan to hold referendums, have shown a sharp swing towards the "No" camp since the French and Dutch results, threatening more governments with a humiliating defeat.

In an interview published a day after his government put legislation to hold a referendum on ice, Prime Minister Tony Blair said EU leaders should focus on Europe's economic and social direction rather than ploughing on with the constitution as if nothing had happened.

"If two countries, particularly two founder members of the European Union, vote "No", then it obviously makes a difference," he told the Financial Timesnewspaper.