Four top European leaders hold talks Monday on the future of the European Union, at a time when it faces multiple crises that are sparking doubts about its very existence.

Hosted by French President François Hollande at the iconic Versailles palace outside Paris, the dinner meeting that brings together German, Italian and Spanish leaders comes amid heated discussion about how to move forward the deeply troubled European Union in the face of Brexit, rising nationalism and an EU-skeptic Trump administration in Washington.

Those issues will be hashed out during a broader EU summit March 25, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaty that lay the now-crumbling foundations for the future bloc.

"The EU is in a very dangerous situation.It could collapse," said analyst Philippe Moreau Defarges, of the French Institute for International Relations, in Paris, echoing the concerns of a number of other experts and politicians.

Last week, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered a framework for the broader European discussions, laying out five possible paths for the 28-member bloc, soon to be 27, with the departure of Britain. They range from even tighter integration, to the idea of a "multi-speed" Europe, with groups of "willing" countries moving ahead in specific areas like defense.

Yet like many other issues, EU members cannot agree on the options, and the limited-attendance Versailles meeting may not have much impact. All four leaders are in a weakened position, starting with host Hollande, who has only weeks left in his presidency.

"It's not a political meeting, it's a sentimental and emotional meeting to say, 'This European Union is very important and we must save it,'" Defarges said. "Even if they agree on something practical, they don’t have the capacity to implement it."

In Brussels, the two EU leaders also are in a fragile position.European Council President Donald Tusk's bid for a second term this spring is opposed by his own Polish government, although many member states support it. Jean Claude Juncker, who heads the EU executive arm, says he will step down in 2019.

Speaking to the European Parliament last week, Juncker urged governments to "stop Brussels-bashing, stop EU-bashing." But doing so may prove challenging, and the bloc's problems may deepen depending on the outcome of key elections in several member states.