I know that. But I think you fail to realize that Europe is not the same as its government, just as the US is not the same as the US government.
The analogy isn't perfect, but the citizens of the US want drugs. The American government pours untold billions into its War on Drugs, and as a result there are more drugs available in the US than ever before. Similarly, Europe's Internet users want a smart, convenient master index to the Internet; and they're not likely to knuckle under as docilely as the population of China, whose government has been at least partially successful in locking Google out.
Exactly. There's a lot less cohesion and a lot less centralized power.
Some European governments ship politicians off to Euro-government just to get them out of the way. Perhaps not quite justly, the Euro Parliament is sometimes considered a retirement institution for incompetent politicians.
The analogy isn't perfect, but the citizens of the US want drugs. The American government pours untold billions into its War on Drugs, and as a result there are more drugs available in the US than ever before. Similarly, Europe's Internet users want a smart, convenient master index to the Internet; and they're not likely to knuckle under as docilely as the population of China, whose government has been at least partially successful in locking Google out.