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The EU can only proceed where there is consensus and there is no appetite for harmonisation across the bloc for most of those issues. Really what you are descr

The EU can only proceed where there is consensus and there is no appetite for harmonisation across the bloc for most of those issues. Really what you are describing is a superstate akin to the US Federal Government, which is not the purpose or goal of the union. Countries within the EU also have vastly different cultural attitudes to many issues. For example, in some countries having a national ID card is mandatory (Germany) and others don't have a national ID card at all (Ireland). Some countries have opted-out of the Euro single currency (Denmark) and others are dragging their heels even though they have an obligation to join (Sweden, Hungary, Poland, etc). Some countries have opted-out of the EU Mutual Defence Clause. One (Ireland again, due to border issues with Northern Ireland) didn't join Schengen. Trying to force such a diverse set of populations into a single superstate will just lead to the break up of the union.

denton-scratch 4y ago
> which is not the purpose or goal of the union That depends who you ask. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_European_Federalists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_European_Federalists "Ever-closer union", the development of a common security and defence policy, and the introduction of a common currency all look quite federalist to me.
- closewith 4y ago
  That was an extremely controversial phrase and Lisbon nearly fell apart due to it. It's worth noting that the full aim is "to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity". It was specifically worded that the union was of the peoples of the bloc, not the countries. The Union of European Federalists have apparently 100,000 members out of a population of ~450 million. It's beyond a niche organisation.
fleischhauf 4y ago
I think it's more of a generational issue. as far as my experience goes most of the younger folks consider themselves european

denton-scratch 4y ago

> which is not the purpose or goal of the union That depends who you ask. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_European_Federalists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_European_Federalists "Ever-closer union", the development of a common security and defence policy, and the introduction of a common currency all look quite federalist to me.

closewith 4y ago
That was an extremely controversial phrase and Lisbon nearly fell apart due to it. It's worth noting that the full aim is "to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity". It was specifically worded that the union was of the peoples of the bloc, not the countries. The Union of European Federalists have apparently 100,000 members out of a population of ~450 million. It's beyond a niche organisation.

fleischhauf 4y ago

I think it's more of a generational issue. as far as my experience goes most of the younger folks consider themselves european