Backers say EU treaty alive despite Irish "No"

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France, Germany and other backers of the European Union's Lisbon reform treaty urged the bloc to press ahead with the project on Friday despite a resounding Irish "No" that puts its future in doubt.

The rejection will transform a meeting of EU leaders next week into a crisis summit where they will explore how to rescue a treaty aimed at bolstering decision-making processes already under strain in the enlarged, 27-member bloc.

"I believe the treaty is alive and we should now try to find a solution," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news conference in Brussels, calling on EU leaders to take "joint decisions" at the talks starting on Thursday.

France and Germany, long-time motors of European integration, said they regretted the Irish vote but stressed the treaty had already been ratified by 18 EU states.

"We hope therefore that other member states will continue this process of ratification," they said in a joint statement.

In London, where Eurosceptics are likely to step up calls on the government to scrap the treaty or hold a referendum, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Britain would press ahead with parliamentary ratification.

"The Irish government have made clear they believe it's right for countries like Britain to continue the ratification process because there needs to be a British view as well as an Irish view," Miliband told reporters.

Only Vaclav Klaus, the Eurosceptic Czech president whose country has yet to complete ratification, insisted the Irish vote was a "victory of freedom and reason over artificial elitist projects and European bureaucracy.