Today’s challenges could pull the EU apart - or reinvigorate what the European project means and where it’s heading.

This sessions brings together major players on the European stage, both in politics and business to discuss the path ahead.

Maurice Lévy, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, starts the debate by saying: “We believe that we can build a growing, attractive Europe, based on its common values.”

Raising the issues

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is first to outline his view and visions of Europe. He highlights the EU’s role in maintaining peace and creating jobs, as well as the Euro’s critical role for stability - not least in his own country, which he says was saved by the Euro in 2008.

He perceives a lot of distrust within Europe. This is mainly because the reforms needed to overcome the Eurozone crisis are not being implemented. He calls for Italy and France in particular to effect these reforms.

Another issue he sees is that there is only a single market for goods, not for services, and there is still no digital single market, which equates to missing out on a market potential twice the size of the Dutch economy.

Brexit points to yet another problem: the UK had to make a choice between controlling migration - which is severely affecting Britain - and the benefits of staying in the union: “They are willing to pay the price.”

A continued need for a - reformed - EU

Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, counters that with Germany less than 1% of world population and the EU less than 5% there is a fundamental need for the EU. A single country, he says, couldn’t survive in the current competitive environment.

Ana Botín, CEO of Santander, declares that overall, Europe has been a success and is the best model for inclusive growth. She highlights the impact of the EU in Spain:

“I don’t like seeing Spain at the bottom of a list, but at least we’re in the developed economies list. 25 years ago we would have been on the list of developing countries.”

However, in spite of its achievements, the EU is far from perfect, in her view.

“The first thing we need to change is a common culture, a common purpose and vision,”she emphasizes. “We need change and we need change now. We are at the crossroads.”

The squeezed middle blames Brussels

Asked about the negative image of Brussels among EU citizens, Frans Timmermans, First Vice President of the European Commission, acknowledges that every country is pointing its finger at the Commission as a scapegoat.

The fundamental issue is that a lot of people feel disgruntled and disconnected from economic development: “The middle classes don’t feel they are part of the success of the economy.”

Winning them over is not a case of presenting statistics, but a case of taking ‘moral hazard’ out by convincing people that the EU is not there to make their life difficult.

Like Mark Rutte, he diagnoses a huge lack of trust between the north and the south of the EU, with the perception that the north is imposing unworkable economic models on the south, and that people in the South are ‘lazy’.

“These are all lies, but they lead to a huge lack of trust between nations and within nations. ” he says. “We need to bring back trust.”

He also predicts and ideological battle between those who want to open, inclusive societies and those who want closed societies.

The way forward

Mark Rutte believes that the EU has already changed significantly in that it has moved away from the notion of ever closer union.

Martin Schulz disagrees, stating that what is needed is an ever closer union of the people. He outlines his view that, in the tradition of Helmut Kohl and Francois Mittérand, creating a strong union is best and has delivered results for members since the EU’s inception

Mark Rutte, on the other hand is not convinced and says that creating a ‘superstate’ would be “the fastest way of dismantling the European Union.”

In his view, the model of Helmut Kohl and François Mittérand is not suitable for building a future-proof European Union. Instead of romantic views, he states, this requires a much more pragmatic approach.

Frans Timmermans agrees to a point: “Nostalgia is the worst position to take. Nationalists flee into nostalgia. Either we prepare for the future or we become obsolete.”

However, he does not believe in a ‘utilitarian’ European Union. He says that those who look to nationalism and protectionism do so not for utilitarian but for ideological reasons. While nationalists propose exclusion of others as a protective measure, Timmermans set inclusive governance against it.

“Inclusion is the only way forward and I think if we as Europeans commit to that ideology, because I think it's an ideology, whether you are from the right or the left, we can save the European Union,” he concludes.