The leaders of the member states of the European Union gathered in Rome without the United Kingdom to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the treaty establishing the European Economic Community.
This event is intended to be “the kickoff of a reflection” and proposes several scenarios for evolution by 2025. Five possible directions are mentioned: ranging from a Union reduced to a common market to the construction of a federalist Europe, united by the same social norms and defended by a common army.
The formula recommended by the most important countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) envisions the future of the European Union with the establishment of a “multi-speed Europe” based on “differentiated cooperations.”
This new mechanism would see some member states deepen “areas of common defense, the economic and monetary union, and fiscal and social harmonization, such as culture or youth” to go “faster and stronger with a few countries.”
For the proponents, the other member states would not “be excluded from the project but could not oppose it either, as the unity of the Union does not impose its uniformity.”
