The cliché that European countries only unite in the face of imminent catastrophe is captured in Jean Monnet’s oft-quoted claim that “Europe will be made in crises, and it will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises”.

But that cliché belies the EU’s proven ability to pursue deeper integration as a deliberate, long-term political goal. Take the creation of the single market in the 1980s, the adoption of the euro in the 1990s, and the absorption of the ex-communist bloc in the 2000s. All of these tied Europe more closely together — not as desperate responses to acute crises, but as products of ambitious political choices to pool more national sovereignty. The achievements look even more remarkable when one considers how quickly they were fulfilled. 

This bit of corrective history is worth keeping in mind when assessing the call, delivered by European Council president Charles Michel in a speech last week, to make the EU ready to accept new members as soon as 2030. Far from being an idle fantasy, the proposal is in fact the sort of move the EU has proved adept at making time and again.