[JURIST] French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French] Thursday told [translated audio, ASF; press release] the European Parliament [official website] that the European Union (EU) should quickly resolve conflicts over the proposed EU reform treaty [JURIST news archive], formally known as the Treaty of Lisbon [official website; PDF text], so the body can move on to other issues. Sarkozy called on member states to ratify the treaty, but joined others in rejecting the possibility [JURIST report] of implementing the accord without ratification by all members. He said he would not support plans to expand EU membership to Croatia or other Balkan states until the agreement was enacted, and that the parliament's 2009 elections would have to be held under the existing Treaty of Nice [treaty materials]. Passage of the new treaty has been stalled since Irish voters rejected it last month [JURIST report] in a national referendum, and Sarkozy has said he plans to go to the country on July 21 to seek a resolution. BBC News has more. RTE has additional coverage.

Leaders from the 27 countries that make up the EU signed the reform treaty [JURIST report] last December, and 14 countries had ratified the document [JURIST archive] before the Irish rejection. Several countries, including the UK and the Netherlands, have continued their ratification processes, but Polish President Lech Kaczynski said signing the treaty would be pointless in light of the rejection, and other leaders have put off further consideration on ratification [JURIST reports] until a meeting scheduled for October.