Another point is that the current arrangement doesn't recognise a single European sovereign entity (the "people of Europe") but rather a number of sovereign entities entering into an agreement.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

I was writing the same point below.. je je je

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude