Edinburgh Napier University

  On the 9th of May 2019, 69 years from the Schuman Declaration and 15 years following the Big Bang Enlargement of the European Union (EU), the heads of state and government met in the small Saxon town of Sibiu (Romania) to discuss about the future of Europe. The meeting ended with the adoption of the Sibiu Declaration that underlines 10 commitments, adopted by European leaders, in order to reignite the European project, especially in light of the major crises the EU underwent during the last few years. Nevertheless, Neculai-Cristian Surubaru argues that the agreed upon commitments are merely objects of political desire. These commitments were sketched, on purpose, in a broad and under-defined manner. On the one hand, this reflects the high level of tensions between member states on choosing any future avenues for the European integration project. On the other hand, the Sibiu Declaration exemplifies well the current state of affairs in the EU and the limits of the current institutional and economic architecture introduced by the Maastricht Treaty. Despite this, the symbolic power of the Declaration should not be taken for granted. This is particularly in the context of a stalling, yet real, Brexit process and given the need for the EU to think of its next big steps.