Originally Posted by Iliak

Why do Americans have this habit of comparing the EU to the US? It doesn't make sense at all. The EU has evolved from EEC to EC to EU; it is built on different treaties or small steps at a time (i.e. Schumann declaration). Comparison is simply out of the question. The EU may be very close to consolidation with the enlargement and all plus states might not want to give away any more autonomy. For us living in Europe (i.e. having a clue at all), we know that the EU plays a huge role in our daily lives, but it is still "unity in diversity" meaning that the EU is not a nation-state, and it will never be. There isn't anything as a "European identity." There are German, French, Dutch, Finnish etc. identities, nation-states and so on.