The decision by EU leaders to put back the deadline for ratification of the EU constitution is the acknowledgment of a reality that will be welcomed as much by supporters of the treaty as by its opponents. It is a setback to a project which was derailed by the rejection of the treaty by voters in France and the Netherlands.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, tried to put a positive complexion on the challenge facing EU leaders when he emphasised yesterday that it was not the end of the road. He predicted that by "next summer it is likely that there will be up to 18 or 19 countries that will have ratified it". At that stage, he said, others would "have to take it forward".
Mr Ahern has experienced once the challenge of turning a No into a subsequent Yes vote and his optimism is not to be dismissed out of hand. Already nine states with a population of 220 million have said Yes, and they will be joined by others. The treaty is receiving the approval of parliaments, rather than referendums of the people. The task facing the Taoiseach and his colleagues in "taking the process forward" will not be easy. Though he continues to speak in favour of holding a referendum in Ireland, no date has yet been set.
The rejection of the treaty by France has been portrayed by many proponents of the constitution as a mere rebuff to a president whose sell-by date has passed. But that is not the whole picture, as the vote in the Netherlands a few days later and the results of last week's Irish Times/TNSmrbi poll demonstrate. Genuine Euroscepticism may be taking root in the political space emerging between the public and the political elites in all of the member states. Indeed, the EU summit was notable for its flock of lame ducks - a deeply unpopular Chirac, widely blamed for the French vote, a Blair, re-elected but on the way out and whose credibility has been deeply wounded by Iraq, a Schröder facing almost certain imminent electoral defeat, not to mention Berlusconi and not a few others. That growing political gulf with the European electorate creates new realities that will not disappear with the passing on of jaded or discredited leaders.
Meeting the challenge of restoring faith in the European project will require more than pious platitudes. Europe's leaders must begin a process of positive rebranding of the EU label for the generations for whom memories of bloody war are largely of old people's stories. In the age of globalisation, in the face of US hegemony and a rising China, challenged by trans-national environmental and health catastrophes and endemic poverty in the Third World, there are new arguments, new rationales, for Europeans to work together effectively which can inspire another generation. "More EU", as François Mitterrand used to say, is the institutional answer, or certainly part of it, to many of these problems. Both Chirac and Blair seemed to hint at the need for such a fundamental reappraisal of the EU in their call for a special summit next year. That is a wise decision.