Article 50 EU Treaty : Is the “ever closer union” cracking?

There is no doubt that the “Six”, founders of the European Communities in the 1950s, were committed to the concept of “an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe” and that this was profoundly felt. The Communities have been successful in achieving their tasks, but the ambitious treaties on Political and Defence communities failed in 1954, although the former has been improved in the EU of today. It must be asked whether the old feeling about an ever closer union, once existed almost 70 years ago in the closed quarters of the “Six”, still remains in a Union having rapidly expanded to 28 members. The EU has become a mini-UN in Europe, although more legally sophisticated, thus simply warranting an exit clause. As the EU stands today it may have achieved most of what the founding “Six” once had in mind. The pertinent issue is, how close the ever closer union can become without there being repelling forces, which certainly exist, e.g. the Brexit. The concept is under pressure: 1) the very size of the union as to the number of members, which is still supposed to increase 2) the exemption in the British renegotiations from the concept 3) article 50 itself bringing in public international law and 4) the rise of “national particularism”. The legal complications are immense including both public international law and internal EU law. The repercussions in the future upon the EU would thus be pure guesswork