Further EU enlargement not possible without Lisbon Treaty, says Sarkozy

Enlargement of the EU will come to halt if the Lisbon treaty does not enter into force, French president Nicolas Sarkozy warned member states in the aftermath of the Irish No vote last week.

"It is certain that as long as we have not solved the institutional problem, the question of enlargement is stopped de jure or de facto," he said at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday night (19 June).

Irish voters rejected the EU's Lisbon treaty last Thursday, but some EU leaders – inc...