Yes, it's easy to forget - particularly after 70 yrs of peace - how destructive of everything Euro rivalry was in the 70 yrs between 1870 and the 1940's. Many tens of millions killed, hundreds of millions wounded or their lives destroyed and world class economies demolished. Anything that prevents that happening again was, and is, in my opinion, worth trying. The American approach - unification at the end of a civil war gun barrel, wasn't really going to work in Europe after such a catastrophic period of conflict.

The only alternative people in the early 1950's could see was to intertwine the economies of two of the main players, France and Germany, to the extent that large scale future armed conflict between them would be impossible. The European Coal and Steel Community that half a dozen countries (not inc the UK) signed up to in 1951 was the first manifestation of that idea but the Schuman Declaration that brought it about also had other aims:


It would mark the birth of a united Europe.

It would make war between member states impossible.

It would encourage world peace.

It would transform Europe in a 'step by step' process (building through sectoral supranational communities) leading to the unification of Europe democratically, unifying two political blocks separated by the Iron Curtain.

It would create the world's first supranational institution.

It would create the world's first international anti-cartel agency.

It would create a common market across the Community.

It would, starting with the coal and steel sector, revitalise the whole European economy by similar community processes.

It would improve the world economy and the developing countries, such as those in Africa

(thanks to Wikipedia for the details)

OK there's nothing in there about much of the stuff we're squabbling over at the moment but it's easy to see how, step by step, we've ended up where we are. There's no denying it's achieved its major aim of preventing further Eurowars (although you could argue other factors would have done that anyway) but whether we (the UK) should just abandon it it all at this stage, possibly bringing the whole thing down around our ears as we go (although I think that's unlikely) is at the core of this.

If you start a process of unification - even for the best of motives, you can't really complain if it heads in that direction. Churchill offered the French unification between themselves and the UK when the Germans were invading in 1940. They declined but we could be living in unified "Frangland" or something at the moment had they taken up his offer.