While the EU pushes for ‘ever closer union’, uncontrolled immigration alone is threatening to bring the whole edifice down.

Anti-immigration parties – from both right and left – have been swept to power in Hungary, Austria and Italy. France has closed her borders, ostensibly to protect against terrorism.

Even liberal Sweden, which accepted more migrants per capita than any other EU state, is now considering a referendum on her membership.

In Germany, where Angela Merkel’s CDU party governs in coalition with the CSU, the Chancellor’s migration policies look likely to break her 13-year grip on power.

The CSU is threatened at home in Bavaria by the anti-immigration AfD, which is demanding tougher border controls.

Mrs Merkel has been given until the end of the month to forge an EU agreement. However, any acceptable solution will force asylum seekers back into neighbouring countries where they were first registered on arriving in Europe.

Greece and Italy are unlikely to cooperate, especially after bearing the brunt of migration in recent years.

Italy alone has accepted 700,000 migrants since 2013, and both nations have long called for a common EU migration policy, While most EU countries will still accept controlled numbers of migrants, many are now voicing concerns about preserving their national culture and identity.

This is not nationalism, but common sense, and people’s concerns need to be addressed.

What is a little ironic is that the EU once dismissed migration as a uniquely British obsession. Today, it’s proving a fault-line right across Europe.