The European Union continues to function, but faces a crisis of direction and purpose. The bloc's survival has become almost an automatic reflex, with member states coordinating positions without that coordination necessarily corresponding to genuine trust between them.
The assessment that emerges from this State of the Union is contradictory: on one hand, Europe demonstrates sufficient competence to stay on its feet; on the other, that same competence seems dedicated to buying time instead of building a common project with a clear vision for the future.
The absence of trust between member states emerges as the underlying structural problem. Although coordination exists on various matters, this does not translate into solidarity or deep strategic alignment, which limits the EU's capacity to respond to the challenges it faces.
