As an outsider: Why create a United State of Europe? Seems like it'll just cause worsening of conflict and bind all of the faults and dangers of all the countries with scarcely any benefits. Sure, the freedom to travel is nice, but there may be times when closed borders will be necessary, e.g. if social unrest in France worsens. Granted, nobody wants to see closed borders and European integration
sounds nice, but is it really?
Good in the long term but very difficult to transition. Look at the US. The states haven't reached the long term balance yet even after well over a century of convergence. In Europe you have language barriers on top of that. There's a lot in the favor but there are a lot of challenges and it's a very complicated subject. A strong case could be made that the catastrophic early results give reason to proceed more cautiously in the future.
Also, basically that. :| It'd be one thing if it were like the unification of German states in the 19th and 20th centuries where you have a group of ethnically similar peoples who were already essentially under one power sphere and mostly speak at least one common language... but when it comes to combining Spain and France, just as an example. How practical would it really be? Also, wouldn't it cause a spike in political unrest among people already discontent with EU policy? I really would like not to have to hear about a large-scale European war in my lifetime. :/
EDIT: Also, forgive me if my knowledge of European history is busted, I don't want to offend, I'm just working with what I know and remember.
Edit Edit: Isn't there already a large amount of political, economic, and travelling interworkings in Europe? And well, again, outsider, but has it even helped to go as far as it has?
Also, anybody know what Russia's doing right now?