[wellard]

Coming in late to the debate but here goes

Can Texas, Maryland, Washington ECT all remove themselves from the United States and become independent countries? IIRC I think not.

All members of the EU can remove themselves from the organization even though it would be at an astronomical expense.

So the countries of the EU are still independent, they have just ceded some of their regulatory powers to a unifying body

And I concur with Barry the (Brussels?) sprout. The EU is more of a glorified WTO than a "federal type government".