EU leaders were today urged by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso not to descend into the "blame game" following the emphatic rejection of the new constitution by French and Dutch voters.
As French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder prepared for talks to discuss the crisis, Mr Barroso appealed to the member states to turn setback into opportunity.
Mr Chirac and Mr Schroeder - whose countries have for so long been the driving force in the European "project" - have called for the process of ratifying the constitutional treaty to continue, despite the "no" votes.
However, with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw set to announce on Monday that Britain is suspending indefinitely its plans for a referendum, many observers believe the treaty - which must be ratified by all 25 member states - is now dead.
Mr Barroso, speaking in Messina, Sicily, on the 50th anniversary of the six-nation conference there which launched the original Common Market, repeated his call for a "period of reflection".
"I must underline clearly that ratification is above all a matter for the member states," he said. "The ball is in their court. They must now decide when and how to ratify, and decide whether they wish to continue with this commitment they have made, or whether to change their position.
"What I think is crucial is that, whatever they do, they react together and that they avoid unilateral decisions - I am convinced a consensus is achievable."
Nevertheless, the indications are that EU leaders will struggle to achieve unity ahead of a crucial summit in Brussels on June 16th.
Tonight's meeting in Berlin between Mr Chirac and Mr Schroeder is being seen as an attempt by two damaged leaders to reassert themselves in the wake of recent events.
While Mr Chirac was hurt by the scale of the "no" vote in France, the German Chancellor has been wounded by his party's crushing defeat in a recent state election and now faces a tough general election battle for survival in September.
There had been concerns in London that they would use their talks over dinner to try to revive the idea of an "inner core" - based around the founding six member states - to press ahead with an integrationist agenda.
However, one of the six, Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, has already made clear his lack of enthusiasm for any such suggestion.