It seems to me that the obvious solution to this problem is to give more power to the European Parliament. If Europeans thought their views on EU policies mattered, they'd probably take more of an interest in EU issues.
It is still seen as a 'kicked sideways' dumping ground. An ex-PM of Finland (Anneli Jäteenmäki, who was forced to resign in disgrace) is apparently wandering around making no contribution at all - either because she is language-challenged or is using the 'well-paid holiday' in Brussels to plot her comeback in Finland.
Give the MEPs real power as a 'lower chamber' and give the commisioners a pan-european unifying role, modelling them more on the Senate. Perhaps 4 from each country.
Then voting for MEPs would have more meaning. You can't be me, I'm taken
