I agree with Nin that either the EU federates or fails, in the long run though. It's just too alienating for EU citizens to be in democracies but feel like they have no control over the EU as a whole.
The thing with big states taking over a lot of autonomy from smaller areas (Putin's Russia, Xi's China etc.) is that they strike a bargain with the population.
They continue to deliver on jobs, economic growth and security in exchange for freedom. This goes with ups and downs but Russia is far better off with the Putin regime than it was with Yeltsin.
The EU wants the power but they offer nothing in return. The Germans/Danes/Dutch etc. need to pay, the Italians, Greeks and French need to 'reform'.
None of the countries want to do what the EU wants them to do and because the interests of Berlin are far different from those of Lisbon or Rome there's nothing the EU can offer everyone
except that it is 'easier to trade and pay with a single currency', which in the era of online banking and crypto is a rather weak selling point.
You can't argue that the EU allows for a better foreign policy when none of the states agree and every leader visits Trump/Putin/Xi by themselves to cut deals instead.
At this point I can't tell you what the EU stands for that would make it appealing to a majority of Europeans.
We're now at the point that those who receive the money tell the ones paying for this shitshow to get out
https://twitter.com/Rob_Roos/status/1249082655930548227
