>almost all EU governments act in direct violation and EU has no real power/wish to stop them.
This would seem to contradict your original post, no?
No, where is the contradiction?
The EU is either
- an unstoppable authoritarian juggernaut to which countries have foolishly ceded their sovereignty and are now paying the price in the form of draconian regulation
- a weak and ineffectual symbolic union which issues empty proclamations that countries are free to ignore without consequence
Which is it?
False dichotomy. It can be both, depending on the issue. This is similar to U.S., although U.S. is much stronger on the federal level than EU is.
No, I said "when you realize", not that it is the "single piece of legislation".
There are many other reasons for that stance, such as the fact that nation's people can influence and check their government's laws with more success than it can do that to a supernational undemocratic bureaucratic organization.
> The EU is top-tier in a wide range of areas spanning from human rights
They have full mouth of it, yes. They issued some great declarations and legally binding resolutions, I agree. In case of vaccines, almost all EU governments act in direct violation and EU has no real power/wish to stop them.