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This year’s State of the European Union Report (2018) approaches the subject from a
slightly different perspective than earlier editions. It addresses the subject not only from
the viewpoints of european institutions based in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg but
those of member states as well.
This set of problems so counter to the idea of Europe could precipitate what could hurt
the Union the most: divisions between member states. A return to the Europe of Westphalia.
There is nevertheless a flipside to the coin, which is the undeniable desire on the part of
European citizens to remain in the Union and the euro and their satisfaction with being a part
of the European project. On the average, over 70 % of the citizens of EU countries hold firm
to these convictions. The EU needs reforms to tackle the challenges of globalisation.
What kind of reforms? Those most urgently required fall into four fundamental areas ad-
dressed in the chapters and final recommendations of this report: euro, social Europe,
asylum policy and security and defence in a post-Brexit Europe
In order to counteract this tendency and enter the 2019 election season on the best pos-
sible footing, the Union – in other words, its member states – must broaden their horizons
and move beyond the current situation fraught with nationalist and protectionist tenden-
cies and narrow self-interests. Pursuing a genuine European project is by far the best al-
ternative.
ISBN 978-84-947465-8-1