C. Redmond,
There is, as you well know, no such things as a "citizen" of the European Union. The EU is a collection of treaties with one toe in the water of federal statehood. The euro-zone, which is the truly revolutionary part of the EU, is much smaller than 450 million. To expand the euro, Brussels will have to persuade many millions more who, like the Swedes, doubt that what they would give up to Brussels is worth what they would get in return.
You think so. I think so. I also respect the people who think that Brussels has a long, long way to go before it develops the real understanding of liberty and rights necessary to create a federal state of Europe. European countries, in general, have highly developed welfare states which rely on cultural consensus. What the Swedes were indicating is that this cultural consensus cannot cross borders easily. Therefore Brussels will have to be a more libertarian government, even more libertarian than the US I should think. I don't know that they understand that yet at EU headquarters. I think that the European politicians who populate Brussels think in terms of generalizing their own domestic models. That doesn't work.
peace,
boddi