German business leaders have expressed their disappointment over the rejection of a proposed EU constitution by French voters in a referendum on Sunday. "It's a serious set-back that restricts the capacity to act of the newly expanded Europe," Dieter Hundt, the president of the Confederation of German Employers Associations, told German news agency DPA. He added that the outcome of the refendum was an "unmistakeable warning signal, which has to be taken serious by politicians." Martin Wansleben, the executive director of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, told Handelsblatt newspaper that people should not believe that things could continue as they had before.