British Plan for EU Referendum Now Uncertain

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the French "no" on Sunday posed a profound question about the future of Europe, and he hinted strongly that his government's plan for a referendum would be put on hold to allow a "period of reflection."

Blair suggested that the disillusionment with European integration seen in many countries stemmed from deep disagreement on the EU's economic direction, with some countries wanting to cling to strict government regulation and social-welfare guarantees and others seeking freer markets and greater liberalization.

"What emerges so strongly

A way forward, he said, might be found in a pan-European debate on how the continent can best create jobs and a more competitive economy.

Britain had planned to make economic liberalization a major theme when it assumes the rotating EU presidency in July. But resistance from France and other countries is expected to be high.

The fear among French voters that they would lose jobs to workers from lower-wage EU countries was believed to be one of the main reasons for their rejection of the constitution.

With voters in the Netherlands also expected to vote down the constitution in a referendum today, a decisive British move to abandon a public vote would put the proposed charter into deep hibernation, if not kill it entirely.

The constitution can take effect only with the unanimous support of the EU's 25 member states. Nine have already approved it.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he would make a statement in Parliament on Monday concerning the government's decision on a referendum. But the final decision won't come until after an EU summit in Brussels in mid-June, the Daily Telegraph reported, quoting an unnamed government source. That would suggest Britain doesn't want to appear to be acting on its own in declaring the document dead.

Privately, many politicians in Blair's Labor Party were relieved by the French vote. They acknowledged that a referendum would have been an uphill challenge because the British public -- perhaps even more than the French -- has been skeptical of the proposal, which many believe would cede too much national sovereignty to the EU.