> The Hanseatic league stretched from England to Novgorod
The Hansa Teutonica had its capital in Lübeck.
One possible future of the EU is a union of regions, not nations. The EU will take over much of what the current nations think they are.
> I am hopeful that once the EU finally collapses
Neither you nor I will see the EU collapse. Just the opposite. It might even expand.
The EU is an attempt by the European political classes to copy all the worst parts of the US political system, while ignoring the traditions of political liberty that (used to) make the US actually work.
Having said that, I am hopeful that once the EU finally collapses, Europe will be blessed with a lot of small independent competing nation states, so there will be some hope for liberty if the US continues along the path of becoming a modern Byzantium.