@paninid the EU is big on strategies. Which is nice. Where there is a will there is a way. But despite vile detractors, the EU is not running the continent, national governments do. And *their* will is somewhat less coherent and articulated.
Which leads to a stalemate, famously requiring a crisis to resolve.
Now, crises do come thick and fast: the financial crisis, the pandemic, wars and refugees.
But there are better ways to point a face to a direction than constant alternating slaps.