Abstract

At its meeting on 16 June 2005, the European Council decided to postpone its introduction of the European Constitution, originally planned to come into force on 1 November 2006. As the Treaty establishing a European Constitution could in principle only take effect if all the Member States agree, following the clear rejections in the French referendum on 29 May 2005 and the Dutch referendum on 1 June 2005 , the Member States needed a period of reflection, a search for explanations and debate. The European Council did not feel that the date initially planned for a report on the ratification of the treaty was still tenable, since those countries which had not yet ratified the treaty would be unable to provide a clear reply before mid- 2007. But the process of ratification by the Member States was not abandoned. The timetable was adjusted to reflect the circumstances in the countries which had not yet ratified the treaty. This period was intended to regain the trust of the general public