As far back as the 1950s when some people opposed the European Defense Community, rank and file Europeans were reassured every step of the way that their national sovereignty was safe and there would never be a governing European body. And each step of the way, a decade or so after the initial battle was fought, a treaty further binding each nation to European rule was signed. (The European Defense Community treaty was signed in 1963, about a decade after it was proposed.) Decades worth of ‘The EU will never be a governing body!’ pats on the head notwithstanding, when a Finnish woman living in Italy lost her bid to get crucifixes removed from classrooms in Italian court, she took it to the European Court of Human Rights and won.
I believe public schools ought to be secular, (added: though I am in favor of student’s free expression of religion) but that’s not the point. Italy should have the right to run her schools as Italians see fit.
I’m still waiting for the EU to have a functioning military, because it isn’t going to be an actual nation without one and, as of today, each of the EU members still has its own. (And my guess is, when it comes time to have one, it’s probably going to be as well-staffed and funded as the armed forces of Eritrea since, ya know, paying for all those wonderful social programs and making sure that Brits aren’t using English measures are far more important than a national defense.)
Yes, you’re right. Did you see there’s starting to be a movement to privatize NHS, though? About time!