After the No votes in the French and Dutch treaty referendums and the shameful demonstration of petty national short-termism of the last Brussels summit, what future can be envisaged for the European Union?

The first possible scenario could be described as "the temptation of Venice"; that is, the collective acceptance of decay by an entire continent. In Europe in the 1790s, the end of Venice was inevitable, not just economically but because its political system and constitution were anachronistic in a world transformed by the French Revolution. Incapable of reform, the Republic of Venice had made the wrong choices, politically and diplomatically, at every turning point in the two previous centuries. By the end of the 18th century, the brilliant appearance of the city could no longer hide the vain frivolity of a life that had become a perpetual carnival of both pleasure and frustration, as the inequality between the "haves" and the "have-nots" grew.