BRUSSELS - Doubts over the EU's near-dead constitution grew Friday, amid new signs its ratification may be stopped altogether as fresh polls confirmed a "domino effect" after French and Dutch "no" votes.
The sense of crisis also escalated when Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country currently holds the European Union's presidency, reiterated that he would quit if his country rejected the EU charter next month.
In addition he confirmed that the EU charter, which aims to prevent decision-making gridlock in the expanding bloc, would be finished if more than five EU countries gave it the thumbs down.
"If more than five countries say no, the project is dead," said Juncker, who has begun holding crisis talks with EU leaders ahead of a mid-June summit in Brussels aimed at charting a way out of the crisis.
His comments confirmed the worst-case scenario referred to in a somewhat oblique clause in the draft EU text, the interpretation of which has been unclear since the crushing ballot blows by France and the Netherlands.
The referendums in the two countries -- both members of the six-nation bloc which launched the whole European project half a century ago -- have plunged the Union into one of its deepest crises ever.
Most analysts agree the charter is now on its death bed, if not already dead, and the next nail in the coffin being built for it could come on Monday.
Speculation is growing in Britain that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will announce the shelving of legislation, introduced in parliament only last month, that would have cleared the way for a referendum there next year.
But the EU's presidency, and key EU leaders including Germany's Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, insist the ratification process must go ahead with six or seven countries still due to hold referendums.
However doubts over the credibility of that position were again raised Friday in Portugal and Ireland, which are expected to hold referendums in October and early next year respectively.
In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern cast doubt on whether his country would hold a referendum following the French and Dutch "no," apparently stepping back on insistence that the poll will go ahead.
"I can't say, we will wait and see what comes out of the (EU summit) in mid-June," he told the Irish Times.
And in Lisbon, Portuguese Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral suggested EU leaders might decide to scrap all other planned referendums at their summit on June 16-17.
"What may happen ... is that the leaders of the 25 member states could conclude that it would be a useless and even painful exercise if it appeared that successive referendums would produce more 'no' results," he said.
Meanwhile in Denmark, two new opinion polls showed the public clearly swinging against ratification of a EU charter, with only 34 percent planning to vote "yes", down sharply from 45 percent only two weeks ago.
The new polls are a setback for Europhiles in Denmark, where until recently polls on the constitution had been more positive -- despite Denmark's history of rejecting grand EU projects, including the euro and the Maastricht Treaty.
The Estonian parliament also announced Friday that it had postponed its ratification of the charter until late this year, although officials denied the delay was influenced by the French and Dutch referendums.
If EU leaders do manage to keep the constitution alive at this month's summit, Luxembourg is the next to hold a referendum on July 10.
Earlier this week Juncker said he was "worried" after a poll showed the "no" camp in Luxembourg had surged to 41 percent by last month, from 24 percent in October.
And on Friday he confirmed he would go if the "no" won.
"It is a question of basic decency towards the voters of Luxembourg ... If there is a 'no,' it is not the people who have to quit. It is up to me to go," he said.
06/03/2005 15:45 GMT