Sixty years after the Treaties of Rome, Europe is experiencing existential threats; for the first time since its inception, the European integration project has become “mortal”. We live in a world of bullies that puts us in front of many challenges: the strong push for a return to nationalism, the temptation to trust the strong man - who simplifies everything and solves nothing - and the easy excuse of populism, used by a poorly visionary political class to keep avoiding its heavy share of responsibility. This "storm" is an extraordinary opportunity to revive the European Union and bears many lessons for other projects of regional integration worldwide.