[JURIST] European Union foreign ministers said Monday that member states that have not yet ratified the EU reform treaty [JURIST news archive], formally known as the Treaty of Lisbon [official website; PDF text], should continue their ratification processes despite an Irish referendum which rejected the treaty last week [JURIST report]. The agreement came during a special meeting held in Luxembourg, where the leaders also cautioned against hasty solutions to the current impasse, such as throwing out the proposed rules, trying to force Ireland to reconsider its rejection, or adopting the Treaty without Irish ratification. Both the Netherlands and United Kingdom have already to decided to continue their ratification processes. EU leaders will next meet in Brussels on Thursday to consider the future of the Treaty. BBC News has more. AFP has additional coverage.

Eighteen of the EU's 27 member states have so far ratified the document [JURIST archive], but Ireland was the only one to hold a popular vote on the Treaty. EU leaders signed the reform treaty [JURIST report] last December, but all EU member states must ratify the instrument before it can take effect. In 2005, a draft European constitution [JURIST news archive] failed when voters in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports] rejected the proposal in national referenda. AP has more.