Shaken by Britain's decision to leave the European Union, the leaders of its other 27 countries met on Friday in Bratislava, Slovakia amid deep-seated divisions over migration and, border security, military cooperation and economic policy.
The Brexit vote in June ended more than half a century of EU enlargement and closer integration. Long seen as a guarantor of peace and prosperity, the bloc is now in critical condition as member states cannot find a common ground to tackle problems while struggling to convince its citizens that it remains a force for good.
Merkel said the bloc simply had to improve. Her influence as leader of the EU's biggest economy has been undermined by her unpopular decision to open Germany's doors last year to nearly a million refugees. "We are in a critical situation. We have to show with our actions that we can get better," Merkel said as she arrived at the special summit, held in the Slovak capital's towering castle overlooking the River Danube. "I hope that Bratislava shows that we want to work together and we want to solve the problems which we have in Europe," she added.
French President Francois Hollande, the other half of the EU's "power couple" with Merkel, was equally blunt about the task ahead. "We face either break-up, weakening or we choose the opposite, together giving Europe a purpose," said Hollande, who has made common cause with Berlin on boosting EU defense cooperation.
EU President Donald Tusk had warned on the eve of the summit that leaders must "have a sober and brutally honest assessment of the situation."
The EU leaders have said they want to launch a "Bratislava Process" of reforms at this summit, to be further discussed in Malta early next year and then agreed in Rome in March 2017 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the EU.
However, cracks in the union are evident everywhere. The migration crisis is the most divisive issue, with many Eastern European leaders blaming Merkel for opening the continent's doors to refugees from conflict in Syria and elsewhere. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is hosting the summit, said all wanted unity but a "very honest" exchange of views was needed to make that possible.
Yet Fico himself has been a divisive figure on the migrant issue, refusing to allow in a "single Muslim" and taking the EU's refugee sharing policy to court. His views are shared by other Eastern European leaders. In a further sign of the tensions over migration, Luxembourg's foreign minister this week called for Hungary to be suspended from the EU for treating refugees from war-torn Syria and other countries like "animals".
Meanwhile thrice-bailed out Greece last week gathered mostly center and center-left southern EU leaders in Athens to urge their northern counterparts to share more of the migrant burden and ease up on austerity.
The EU, a bloc of 500 million people, has been under siege since the 2008 global financial crash threw millions out of work and austerity policies undercut its claim that it alone guaranteed a better economic future.
Years of economic and financial crisis have pushed up unemployment in many member states. The impact of the great recession in Europe has been exacerbated by monetary union. The euro has been held responsible for the slow growth and high unemployment. Austerity measures being pursued by Eurozone members has led to political battles over whether the belt-tightening policies have gone too far at the expense of economic growth. The clashes over economic policies have created political turmoil in other states just as they have in France, Austria and Italy as defenders of economic reforms in these European countries call for a shift in Eurozone budget discipline.
Russia's intervention in Ukraine, the migrant crisis and deadly DAESH attacks in France and Belgium have eroded confidence that the EU can protect its citizens.
