* Polish president says he will not sign treaty for now

* French take over EU presidency

* French leaders say believe Poland will sign eventually

By Paul Taylor and Francois Murphy

PARIS, July 1 (Reuters) - Polish President Lech Kaczynski compounded the problems facing the European Union on the first day of France's presidency of the bloc on Tuesday, saying he will not sign the Union's reform treaty for now.

Kaczynski said it would be "pointless" signing the document following its rejection by Irish voters in a referendum on June 12. The treaty, intended to overhaul the bloc's institutions, needs the backing of all 27 member states to come into force.

Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, helped negotiate the Lisbon Treaty but his party is now in opposition. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said ratification was in Poland's interest.

Asked by the daily Dziennik if he would sign the treaty -- the last step needed for full ratification in Poland -- he said: "This is now pointless. But it is difficult to say how this whole thing will end."

Kaczynski's comments highlighted the problems facing President Nicolas Sarkozy at the start of France's six-month tenure of the EU's rotating presidency, but Sarkozy said he believed Kaczynksi would ultimately honour a pledge that Poland would ratify the treaty.

"He (Kaczynski) is a politically committed man. He is a man who has never broken his word, and who made a commitment in front of his 26 (European) partners. I do not doubt for one minute that this commitment will be kept," he told reporters.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner echoed his comments.

"I think Poland has decided, that it will ratify, and that the president, for reasons that are his business and not ours, does not want to sign for the moment. But I am more or less convinced that he will sign," Kouchner told France 2 television.

Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, said the treaty should be ratified. "We are convinced the treaty's ratification is in Poland's best interest ... It is hard to accept a situation where Poland would be put in the same position as Ireland, a very troublesome position," Tusk told a news conference.

A senior source in Sarkozy's office said France believed Kaczynski and Czech President Vaclav Klaus could be brought around to signing if they were told clearly there would be no further EU enlargement without the institutional reforms.

Both Poland and the Czech Republic wanted the EU to admit new members in the Balkans, starting with Croatia, and eventually expand further east to embrace Ukraine. That gave the French presidency leverage to get the treaty ratified.

"If you are saying (we) are using this as a shoe-horn, you are right," the source said.

NOT PERFECT

Poland's parliament gave the green light to the treaty in April. Kaczynski delayed signing it but had previously said ratification by Poland was a foregone conclusion.

He compared the bloc's situation to 2005 when French and Dutch voters rejected a more far-reaching EU constitution, which was later reworked into the Lisbon Treaty.

"The bloc functioned, functions and will go on functioning. It's not perfect but such a complicated structure cannot be perfect," Kaczynski said.

Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty for reasons ranging from the fact they considered the text incomprehensible to concerns it would bring higher taxes or legalised abortion.

The French presidential source said Sarkozy would travel to Ireland on July 21 to seek a solution, noting the Irish had a tradition of voting a second time after receiving assurances, as they did after rejecting the Nice Treaty in a 2001 referendum.

"Wasn't it the Irish who voted again once before?" he asked.

The source said Sarkozy's priority was to keep all 27 EU countries together rather than creating a two-speed or multi-speed Europe as some fervent integrationists wanted.

EU leaders meeting in October are due to hear from Ireland's prime minister on how to move forward after the "No" vote.

"One way or another there will have to be a vote to get out of this. Whether it will be in parliament or a referendum and when, I don't know," the source said, pointing to 2009 European Parliament elections as a possible deadline for a solution.

The treaty is intended to give the EU a stronger leadership, a more effective foreign policy and a fairer decision-making system. It would create a powerful new foreign policy chief and a president of the European Council, its highest political body.

The Irish "No" vote scuppered any hope of the agreement Sarkozy helped broker coming into force on schedule on Jan 1. (Reporting by Francois Murphy and Paul Taylor in Paris and Gabriela Baczynska in Warsaw; Writing by Paul Taylor and Timothy Heritage; Editing by Dominic Evans)

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