I would be inclined to agree. Otherwise, why would so many different nations with different interests agree to band together?

Perhaps a little and to bring economic stability to Europe as well. Trade was greatly enhanced with the creation of the €uro which has plated a great roll. Only in terms of economic reasons was it formed and when trade is involved it is not so much a matter of countering as to find viable ways to compete on a global market. Good enough?

Not so much counter the influence but more to be able to trade effectively.

did you know NATO is protecting most of europe?

It was nothing but mere fiction to create a counterpart to the USA by the EU. Indeed the Eu is nothing but a mixture and quite different nations with completely and mostly opposite interests. While America is a nation with one opinion, Europe is a bunch of mostly opposite opinions which will never come to a common opinion. Inside the EU each country has absolutely different interests and the whole EU is based on mistrust, mutual hatred up to extreme hostility and complete jealousy. The British and French governments are working extremely and filled up with hostility and extreme hatred against Germany, Italyand Spain and the most important tasks of the British and French government consists in working against the rest of the EU members. Britain plays its own and single role with the USA without asking anybody else as well as France is playing its specific own role against the rest of Europe. So British and French have since ever stopped any kind of common politics inside the EU so that America as a nation as well as the rest of world the EU ever took for serious. In a certain and very bad way the common economy is working more or less among the hostile members and it only worked because Germany was paying the biggest part since ever. The European people with their extreme diversity are mostly extremely chauvinistic and extremely hostile as for example in Britain, France or Poland. Instead of a common feeling most governments are even backing with billions of money the old bias, chauvinism and even big campaigns of hatreed against other members of the EU. So each member goes its own way and so I think the differences between the european countries never have been so big and so deep as they are actually. There is no way to a common politics of the EU and so Germany should leave this useless club as soon as possible and have a look for its real friends where they are more welcome than in the EU. The EU never will be have political power and never will be able to make a common foreign police being on the same level like the USA. All European politicians are full of bias, animosities and therefore unable to see the chance for a united Europe. They were not even able to find a common language inside the EU and there is a real boycot by most countries to accept some languages. We should accept that the idea of a common Europe has deeply failed and so every country should isolate for itself.

In part, but mostly in an attempt to become more of a economic power which in effect makes them more of a power in other areas. +5

It was nothing but a try which is now a flop to buld up a counterpart to the big economy of the USA and the rest of the world. But the selfish interests of that many countries are so extremely different that the EU will fail soon. The big rifts among the bigger countries of Europe are obvious. Anyway in Europe there was absence of war for 70 years. In the long run the EU will fail because the bigger countries do not want a United Europe.

Yes, something like that. Economic standpoint I believe.