French voters have rejected the European constitution. The results were not unexpected, but they were a shock nonetheless. France has long been a pillar and an engine of European integration. It is unclear how the European Union will deal with this setback. For French President Jacques Chirac, the outcome is a slap in the face. Mr. Chirac has said he will ignore calls to step down, but he is deeply wounded.
The need for a European constitution was driven by both internal and external forces. The changing world required Europe to speak with one voice and act as one. That was becoming increasingly difficult as the EU nearly doubled in size. It took nearly two years to produce a new EU Constitution. The drafting process, overseen by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, yielded an unwieldy document of 448 clauses, protocols and annexes that failed to capture the spirit and the dream of union. The constitution must be ratified by all 25 member states to take effect. Nine, representing nearly half the union's 450 million citizens, have already done so.
At the beginning of the year, France looked set to do the same. Opinion polls showed 65 percent of French voters would vote yes. But when they went to vote this week, nearly 55 percent rejected the constitution and plunged the EU into a period of uncertainty. The strength of the French rejection -- turnout was nearly 70 percent -- reflected growing unease about the EU, France's own economy, and, perhaps most important, France's place in Europe and the world.