Philadelphia was a greater Enlightenment city than many European capitals. And many contemporary European polities are based on the principles first given force by the American Revolution. The challenge is to prevent America and the European Union developing into distant, competing blocs. The key is to ensure that the European Union remains outward-looking and flexible. The nation-state must remain the basic building block of the European Union.
People are naturally proud of their own countries.
Politicians who ignore that pride and sense of identity do so at their peril. To undermine institutions and ways of life which have developed over hundreds of years in the pursuit of a federal Europe would be the utmost folly. Of course, the peoples of Europe have common interests. They also have common traditions and cultural roots. But it is their cultural diversity that gives Europe its rich cultural heritage.