Gordon Brown said he is "still confident" that the process of enlargement of the European Union can proceed, despite the rejection last week of the Lisbon Treaty by Irish voters in a referendum. However, Brown also said that the 27 member state-bloc must also strike a deal on the treaty itself. He said leaders were agreed that the bloc must continue with the process of ratification. Brown said: "I am still confident that enlargement can proceed, but clearly we have to get agreement on the Lisbon treaty itself. The treaty is of course about the extension of the European Union." Earlier, French President Nicholas Sarkozy said there could be no more enlargement of the bloc without full ratification of the treaty.