The tiny plant of a European shake up

While many Europeans still enjoy relaxed days with sun and summer, others are looking for the battles ahead. As part of preparations for the informal EU summit in Bratislava in September, EU Council president Tusk plans to visit every EU captal, including London, over the next four weeks. Yesterday he had a "kick-off" meeting with chancellor Merkel in Germany.

The Bratislava meeting will be a forum for reflections of possible EU reforms. According to EU observer the crucial question is

Should Europe make another leap forward in integration in reaction to the Brexit vote, with further pooling of sovereignty on economic governance and immigration, or .. (should it) hand greater control to national capitals to avoid feeding euroscepticism.

EU observer mentions that Merkel and her party, along with several central European leaders, have indicated wariness on further integration. In contrast  the Social Democratic Party in Germany's ruling coalition, as well as France and Italy, are pulling in the other direction. Italy is planning to hold an informal summit with France and Germany on the island of Ventotene next week to set out its ideas.

The informal Council meeting in Bratislava will also discuss how to handle future relations with the UK.

The two focus points on the Bratislava agenda are of course interwoven. Brexit triggered the reform discussion, and a strategic handling of Brexit will be easier if the EU future course is clearer. 

The Bratislava process might also bring important inputs to Brexit-discussions in the UK. Here they are still struggling to define what kind of Brexit solution they want. 

Although the EU's own development and the future relationship between the EU and the UK are  unclear, there is a broad process going on. A small reform plant has grown up. The politcal actors are  considering possible solutions. Some that did not fit before, may be accepted later. E g has Norway become less hostile to letting UK to join EFTA. A development which makes a kind of EEA solution for the UK a bit more possible as an alternative.

The reform plant is tiny, but it is real.