My Europe is a compromise. Politics at the EU level is consensus politics, done through bargaining, horse-trading, lowest-common-demoninator agreements and backroom deals. That is why there can never be a “United States of Europe” and why federalism in Europe will never work; without a common “European nation,” political leaders are forced to struggle for compromises between existing nations. Some Europeans might want federalism, but many do not – and it is in the spirit of compromise that this attitude should be respected.

National identity, no matter the horrors of the 20th century, is important. It forms what the scholar Benedict Anderson calls an “imagined community” – a shared set of signs and symbols that create bonds of loyalty between absolute strangers. Some academics argue that nationalism is even a vital step in the evolution of a liberal market economy. The free market – so the argument goes – cannot function well beyond the village-level without some form of nationalism; trade contracts are based upon trusting strangers and shared identities foster trust.

I honestly believe that some form of European national identity can exist – because I feel it myself. There are shared cultural, historical, religious (or philosophical) and linguistic bonds between most Europeans. However, individual national identities should never be subsumed by an artificial “EU” identity. Instead, the existing bonds should be strengthened – which in some cases means strengthening the idea of the nationstate.

In the 21st century we face problems that individual nations working alone cannot overcome. Transnational crime, mass migration, global trade, extreme poverty, war, terrorism, environmental damage and energy security are all issues we are stronger facing together. If we abolished the European Union, these problems would not go away, they would deepen. Yes, the EU has its flaws – it is technocratic, slow to react and distant from the people of Europe. However, in the real world there are no instant solutions to problems. Instead, you are forced to choose your problem set – and I would rather have technocratic bureaucracy and slow consensus politics over bickering intergovernmentalism and power politics.

So, my Europe is a compromise. Not a federal superstate, nor a weak collection of nationstates. I’m sure nobody will be entirely happy with it, but I hope that few people will actively hate it. Without doubt, the EU needs the support of Europeans or it will not survive. But, for me, the answer is not more federalism on the one hand or the abolition of the EU on the other. For me, the answer is more compromise, a multi-tier Europe and respect for the European nationstate.