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At informal talks in Rome, the foreign ministers of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands issued a joint communiqué in which they admitted to being "concerned about the state of the European project".
They said the EU was facing "very challenging times" due to the migration crisis and the threat posed by terrorism.
And they insisted that, for them, the answer lay in more, not less integration while also acknowledging that not every country in what is now a 28-member bloc should have to agree.
"We firmly believe that the European Union remains the best answer we have for today's challenges and allows for different paths of integration," the communiqué reads.
"We remain resolved to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the people of Europe."
Tuesday's dinner meeting was called by Italy, whose centre-left government has made it clear it wants a core of EU countries to forge ahead with steps towards further integration, with moves towards a banking union, tighter fiscal harmonisation and increased political and security cooperation the areas where they see change as most desirable.
Rome has also indicated that it is relaxed with countries like Britain limiting their engagement with the EU to essentially being part of a large free trade area - an option Italian officials say they would much prefer to the unpredictable scenario of a Brexit, as Britain's possible departure has been dubbed. [...]
Joint Communiqué: Charting the way ahead