I dunno man, from an outsider's perspective I used to think that but it seems to slowly be getting worse with trying to shove through internet surveillance and corporate protectionism under the guise of "protect the kids". I guess sadly someone saw how unreasonably effective that can be in the US.
Well the Chatcontrol thing was a really close call. and they only got through with it because they did a third vote on the law when everyone was relaxed about it being rejected twice.
But yeah, scaring the people back in line is always a tactic thats used
if you write to your reps, they might just change that. The Eu is one of the few democracies left. Slow but powered by the people