The EU today is about as far from being an empire as the US was in the "Articles of Confederation" era (roughly 1781-1789): States are sovreign, the federal bo

The EU today is about as far from being an empire as the US was in the "Articles of Confederation" era (roughly 1781-1789): States are sovreign, the federal body doesn't have direct powers of taxation and the money it does get is what the states tell it it's getting, foreign policy only happens to extent individual states say it does, lacks a fully unified financial system, more about interstate commerce than anything else. But yes, if you hate that and want to spend 6-8% GDP not having it, this is absolutely within the rights of the people to decide that. Of course, if they didn't want that and just plain didn't believe the people who accurately explained the cost, that's an argument for undoing it. Lying politicians isn't at all unique here, and unfortunately politicians saying the decision is permanent and irreversable is also not at all unique, but it is anti-democratic.