Mal Fletcher gives a balanced overview.

A Europe with a unified political system would place too much power in the hands of as yet unelected bureaucrats.

It would also deny the fact that where Europe is strong, it is strong because of its underlying mix of unity with diversity.

Europe's cultural diversity is a large part of what makes it interesting and attractive as a place to live and work. I think it also potentially heightens Europe's ability to be creative and to inspire inventiveness - that is, if it is willing to reduce the red tape which stifles the entrepreneurial spirit.

As any successful business leader will tell you, a certain level of diversity within a team brings different outlooks to a problem, sparking diverse solutions. It also carries a degree of creative tension which, if properly managed, can lead to exciting new outcomes.

Stamping a false political uniformity on Europe would only weaken its diversity and reduce its capacity for innovation - in science, technology, business, media and more.

It would lessen Europe's attraction for those seeking a place to express themselves creatively.

A failure to recognise diversity has already caused havoc in Europe.

Arguably, a part explanation for the recent Euro crisis is the EU's failure to identify vast differences in cultural attitudes to such things as taxation, benefits, nepotism and more.

There is a huge degree of divergence on these things, between Europe's north and south and sometimes between the east and west. Until new, the EU has largely attempted to paper over the cracks with Euro cash and it's clearly not working.

Meanwhile, a level of mass migration unseen in the world since World War 2 is now revealing stark disparities on the issue of immigration.

Keeping Europe working together will not simply be a matter of stamping on it a false uniformity, through a United States of Europe.

This week, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk claimed that this super-state idea was not something we need concern ourselves with, presumably because it is not being seriously considered, or won't be anytime soon.

Sadly, however, I'm not so sure people in Britain or elsewhere trust the EU on this one.

At times, the EU already acts like a political union, for example in the way it dismisses referenda results within member states.