Thank you for mentioning this. I was asked once in an interview (for a scholarship to business school) "do you think the EU is a success?" the answer of course is a resounding 'yes' for the reasons you mention. The primary goal of the EU is European peace and that is has delivered wonderfully. Politicians can fight over fiscal this and fiscal that, but so long as they fight with words not guns we can live in peace. We owe the founders of the EU a great debt of thanks.
No doubt that the EU is a success. I'm just saying that there's a (high) risk that it will degenerate if political discourse doesn't change. Words may lead to hate and hate may lead to war.
I hope human progress will keep this from happening, but these are probably the most critical times for the EU since its beginnings as ECSC.
