The European Union celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the document that effectively brought it into being, on Sunday. As part of the celebrations, EU leaders signed off on the so-called "Berlin Declaration" which reiterated the bloc's aims and ideals, acknowledged its achievements and challenges, and looked to the future. It also set a date for 2009 for the ratification of an EU constitution.

European papers on Monday took a mostly skeptical view of both the landmark anniversary and the document signed as part of the commemoration.

The Financial Times in London was nonplussed, a reaction it saw in many Europeans across the bloc as their leaders slapped each other on the back. "The EU may be widely credited with cementing postwar peace and prosperity and providing the framework for the reunification of the continent, but do people care?" the paper asked. "Not, it seems, very much. The gap between the official festivities in the German capital and the lack of popular celebrations elsewhere in Europe is a symptom of the fact that the EU remains at heart an elitist project, just as it was when Jean Monnet, Robert Schumann and the other founding fathers conceived it in the 1950s."

The FT continued, saying the party atmosphere in Berlin was thin at best and that the EU's problems would continue despite the glitz and glamour. "A European constitution supposed to inspire and reconnect the EU to its citizens was dead on arrival after the French and Dutch No votes in 2005," it wrote. "The union has become a scapegoat for national politicians. Turnout in European elections is on a steady downward path. Behind the smiles in Berlin there is a sense of profound gloom."

In Spain, El Mundo wrote that the amount of money spent on celebrating the EU's 50th birthday and the lauded "Berlin Declaration" could not cover up the fact that the bloc faces a number of crises. "German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered her text full of high expectations during festivities of high expenditure," the paper wrote. "But both contained little substance. (The Berlin Declaration) contained nothing but a list of principles without any practical guidance."

The Spanish daily added that the only real target was the deadline of 2009 for an agreement on the EU constitution. But by demanding that in a written text does not solve the problems that have prevented the constitution from being agreed upon, the paper commented: "The EU would be better served by finding agreement on foreign and defense policies, and finding an efficient and competent way for ministers to come to those agreements."

In Paris, Le Soir on Monday said that the signing of the Berlin Declaration under brilliant blue skies in the German capital belied the fact that clouds were already gathering over the document and the 2009 constitution document therein. "The favorable weather in Berlin masked the coming storm of 27 voices," it wrote. "The Declaration was not signed by the 27 heads of government of the EU states. It was signed by the lauded German chancellor, the EU parliamentary president Hans-Gert Pöttering and EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso. So a document of three signatures, not a unanimous contract, is supposed to bind the 27 states together."

In Germany, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that those who viewed the European project with skepticism before the 50th anniversary celebrations had little reason at the present time to change their opinions. "One could see the reactions of some of those listening to Angela Merkel's speech in Berlin," the FAZ wrote. "There was a widespread, unspoken agreement to her comments that the feeling in Europe was a mixture of skepticism and contradiction when it came to common policies."

"Also, doubts surrounding the way the EU is run will not have been extinguished by the clandestine way the Berlin Declaration was drawn up," the FAZ added, alluding to the limited involvement of many leaders in the preparation of the text.

However, despite this, the paper believes that the EU has a bright future as long as Europeans are shown that there is some worth in the project. "It all comes down to whether everyone can agree on the same direction and whether they can all pull the EU that same way," the FAZ wrote. "The EU has achieved a lot and no-one can deny this. It can achieve a lot more if its people are shown they stand to profit from a cohesive bloc and if it is allowed the space and freedom to develop."