When will the EU punch its weight in a perilous world? That’s the question countries eager to join should be asking (opens in new tab)

Twin threats from east and west have clearly made the bloc more appealing – but its rule-bound institutions need urgent attentionGiant butter mountains, wine lakes and an apocryphal formed the mythological backdrop to Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum debacle. Yet while many Vote Leave claims were exaggerated, inaccurate or blatantly untrue, the EU’s capacity for laying itself open to ridicule is undiminished 10 years on. Take the strange case of the whingeing EU commissioners, annoyed that th...