The European Union will have no alternative solution if European countries fail to ratify the EU constitution, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said on Wednesday. "Let me make this clear, Europe and the world cannot afford the self-inflicted wound of a rejection of the constitution," Solana told the audience at an award ceremony in Warsaw. The constitution, intended to streamline decision-making in the expanded EU, could hit its first hurdle in France where the public, due to vote in a referendum on May 29, is still split, Reuters reported. In an interview for Polish public television, Solana emphasised again that there was no provision for a possible rejection of the constitution. "There will be no plan "B". We will continue on plan "A" because it is a good one," Solana said, echoing similar comments by other top EU officials in Brussels. He said he believed European citizens would finally push through the constitution and would appreciate the extra clout and cohesion European foreign policy would get under the treaty's provisions. All 25 EU members have to ratify the constitution before it can take effect, and many plan to do so through referendums.
