I get that Schengen ≠ EU but let’s face it, you really cannot have Schengen without the EU because Schengen is too complicated and relatively fragile (meaning that, while it’s unlikely to fail, if it fails it could fail forever). I think there probably always has to be a strong authority (Brussels) which is above it all, and I say this despite my general dislike of Brussels. Now obviously EU skepticism has gone through the roof over the last decade or so and it seems like anti-EU political parties will continue to be a major force in European politics for the foreseeable future. I’m not from Europe by the way (USA born and raised but I go to Europe a few times annually) so I do not know all the statistics here but I’d assume in Europe, as in America, the “gen Alpha” young men increasingly skew right/“alt-right” and there’s a lot of EU skepticism among young people in general (or at least a big split between young people on the topic of Brussels).
Do you think much of this, the worsening anti-EU sentiment, is due to how many people did not live through or have since forgotten the days when driving around Europe meant endless border checkpoints, constantly exchanging currency, etc.? Again, this is coming from someone who deeply dislikes Brussels, I do have an American mindset which does not work well with the sort of logic that EU bureaucrats use, but I still think the EU is obviously necessary and primarily because above all else it is the guarantor of Schengen.