It's surprising how far some idealism can get us, though. Let's not forget that it's exactly that older generation that build the EU on the ruins of the wars th

It's surprising how far some idealism can get us, though. Let's not forget that it's exactly that older generation that build the EU on the ruins of the wars they fought. I'm wondering if the EU isn't suffering from its own success. It modeled the free trade/free movement/peaceful cooperation at a time at which none of these things were common. That style of negotiation and cooperation then became common internationally, so that nowadays, it appears to make little difference if, say, Croatia is part of the EU or not.