Member states are getting fed up with the arrangement and view the EU as on its last legs. The outcome will be interesting to watch, because if the EU falls apart, it will be a major blow to Technocrats everywhere that their crackpot schemes are not acceptable.

Optimism about the EU's future has plummeted in all but three of the 28 member states, most strikingly in the Netherlands and Germany, where people are now overwhelmingly negative about the outlook for the union.

According to the latest figures from the EU's own Eurobarometer survey, the scale of optimism is lowest in Greece, where just 34 per cent are upbeat about the future of the EU, compared with 63 per cent who are pessimistic.

In Cyprus fewer than four in 10 – 37 per cent – are positive about the EU's prospects, compared with 58 per cent who are negative.

In Austria 37 per cent are optimistic, compared with 56 per cent who are pessimistic.