Continental divide

THE REJECTION of a European constitution by French voters Sunday, which is likely to be seconded by Dutch voters today, need not become a calamity for the cause of European integration if the proper lessons are learned from the misadventure of French President Jacques Chirac and his fellow mandarins.

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If French officials and like-minded Eurocrats elsewhere respond by scorning French voters for misunderstanding what they were being asked to vote on, a crucial flaw in the elite's method of constructing an enlarged European Union will continue to go unrecognized and uncorrected.

A lucid explanation of the lesson that needs to be learned came from the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, who said: ''The French referendum and its result clearly demonstrated the deep division that exists between the European elite and the citizens of Europe."

Although the constitution has little to do with the concerns that motivated many French no votes -- such as East European workers taking jobs in France for low wages or Turkey beginning EU accession talks this fall -- the referendum gave people who feel vulnerable to global competition a rare chance to complain that they were not consulted about earlier decisions such as the EU's expansion from 15 to 25 members. Indeed, exit polls indicate that the better off voters were, the more they were inclined to approve the constitution.

It was foolish for leaders such as Chirac to try to stampede the French into voting for the constitution by intimating that a no vote would inflict enormous harm on France's prestige and interests. The public heard those warnings and gave a response that effectively said: ''We don't believe you, we don't trust you, and what about our interests?"

It would be equally foolish for European elites to ignore what the French voters said Sunday and what Dutch voters are expected to say today. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair may have his own political reasons for wanting to avoid a referendum next year on the constitution, but he is right to call for a period of reflection. Although the division of powers proposed in the EU constitution answers real needs, the timing is wrong. It is wrong because the biggest continental countries are suffering from high unemployment, stress on their social welfare systems, and political weakness.

European leaders would be wise to postpone action on an EU constitution for a decent interlude and to use that time to help their populations adjust to the dislocations of globalization and EU enlargement. The elites need to earn the trust of citizens before asking again for a constitutional structure that suits the interests of those elites.