Sarkozy urges EU treaty push as doubts grow

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy led calls on Saturday for the European Union to press on with ratifying its reform treaty, but Ireland's "No" vote revived talk of pro-European capitals forming their own club.

Sarkozy said the rejection of the reform pact in Thursday's referendum should not spark a crisis and confirmed that Prime Minister Gordon Brown had assured him he would defy British eurosceptics and pursue its endorsement.

"Today, 18 European states have ratified. The others must continue to ratify...so that this Irish incident does not become a crisis," Sarkozy told a news conference with U.S. President George W. Bush in Paris.

Others also interpreted Britain's swift pledge on Friday to pursue ratification as a sign it would back a joint effort by France and Germany to salvage the pact, known as the Lisbon treaty, during the French Presidency of the EU later this year.

But Luxembourg Prime Minister and veteran EU deal-maker Jean-Claude Juncker was more downbeat, forecasting the emergence of a two-speed Europe in which a small grouping of EU states would develop joint policy initiatives by themselves.

"Given that it is increasingly hard to get all states moving together, probably the only thing left is a 'Club of the Few'," said Juncker, a contender for the powerful EU president post foreseen by the treaty.

France's Le Monde newspaper called for the launch of an "avant-garde" of nations ready to agree policy by majority voting rather than by unanimity, while Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung predicted a "Europe of varying intensities".

"Time has shown that the majority of EU states follow when a small group seizes the initiative," it wrote.