Dragan Barbutovski, an expert on the EU and strategic communication, told the STA ahead of the anniversary of the Treaty of Rome that merely issuing statements in Rome would not be enough.

"A clear vision is necessary," he said, arguing that this vision should not be rooted in the opinions of the political elites, but tailored to the needs of the people.

Until people start feeling every day that that the EU is working for their benefit, they will not support the European project, Barbutovski argued.

Stefani Weiss of the German Bertelsmann Foundation also does not expect any major breakthrough in Rome, saying the only option EU leaders had was to send out a message of unity.

She doubts that this will also involve an idea on where the EU is headed, said Weiss, who possibly expects some ideas on the next projects as part of the enhanced cooperation mechanism that is likely to remain the main tool for the implementation of the concept of a multi-speed Europe.

Defining joint projects can help calm the atmosphere, she argued, predicting that efforts towards European defence integration would come first.

Slovenian international relations expert Ana Bojinović Fenko, however, said that "multi-speed Europe" was a misleading expression.

The lecturer at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences would prefer to speak of a Europe of different intensities, as the concept is about differences in cooperation in different policy fields and not the premise that states enter into the same forms of cooperation at different speeds.

Bojinović Fenko feels the key question is how to make the current overlap of different levels and intensities in various policies by member and non-member states more transparent and effective for EU citizens, for the political process and third parties. This would potentially also lead to a more effective execution of EU policies.

Meanwhile, looking at the resistance of eastern EU states to the multi-speed concept as well as to deeper integration, Weiss spoke of a lack of self-confidence and maturity. Also, many of these countries have only obtained independence recently and wish to keep it.

Weiss sees Slovenia as belonging to what is termed "old Europe", finding no major differences between Slovenia, Austria or Luxembourg for instance.

As regards Slovenia, the two Slovenian analysts stressed it should define its interests more concretely as the EU was devising a future without Great Britain.

Slovenia should define the benefits it wishes and the costs it expects as a result of its participation in the EU on the basis of a strong social consensus on values and interests, said Bojinović Fenko. She also feels the country could do more to propose solutions for the entire EU.

Barbutovski also highlighted the need for Slovenia's active involvement in forming criteria for membership in the core group of members to make sure it was among them.