Opinions are divided when it comes to the question of how Europe should progress in the future. On the one side are the Eurosceptics, who wish for stronger nation states. But on  the other there are also many advocates of stronger European integration. At the Max  Planck  Institute  for  the  Study  of  Societies in Cologne, research on Europe by Martin  Höpner and his group and Fritz  Scharpf explores to what extent there is any chance for the member states to move closer together, given their significant structural differences.