EU faces crisis after France rejects EU charter

PARIS (Reuters) - France overwhelmingly rejected the European Union constitution on Sunday, pitching the EU deep into crisis and dealing a potentially fatal blow to a charter designed to make the enlarged bloc run smoothly.
EU leaders said after a referendum "no" vote that the treaty was not dead and member states should continue the ratification process. But British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the rejection raised profound questions about the future of the EU.
The heavy defeat dreaded by EU leaders could weaken France in the 25-member bloc, stall European integration and unsettle some financial markets. It also wounds President Jacques Chirac two years before presidential and parliamentary elections.
"The French people have given a huge smack in the face to an entire system that has the nerve to tell us what to think," said nationalist French politician Philippe de Villiers, a leading opponent of the charter. "The constitution is no more." .......