Has anyone been paying attention to what's going on in EU since 2000?

Right wing nationalism is on a steep rise. Immigrants from Middle Eastern countries are being used as scapegoats again for right-wing facists.

Massive corruption in Greece almost lead to the breakup of the EU. The idea that a single currency can handle the needs of the 30+ countries in the EU is ridiculous and Milton Friedman long predicted that the EU will break apart over a currency crisis. The last time, Germans didn't want to pay for lucrative Greek public pensions, and most Greeks don't even pay their fair share of income taxes. It's a mess, and the EU just added a few more very poor countries. It's not something that will continue to work if there's another currency crisis.

The UK just left the EU 2 days ago, because the people voted itself out of it. It's a factor of the above two issues, but it won't stop as right wing nationalism increases.

Europeans from different countries still look down on each other (Britons were angry/racist that Poles and other Eastern Europeans were able to freely move to the UK, even though they're all white). It's only when you bring in other countries, where Europeans will become united. That's similar to the US and other countries (yes, I know Europe is not a country) where people hate within until compared against someone from the outside.

Overall there's a lot less cultural "unity" within the EU than within the US, so you really can't compare the two except as a economic trading entity.