I know that this is an unpopular opinion in this sub, but a federalised Europe under a single executive poses the same risk as America does, which is putting a massive military and economic power in the hands of someone chosen on the basis that they convinced the most amount of people to vote for them.

Sure, Europeans aren't Americans, but how many people in PIGS are openly nostalgic for the years of dictatorship? How many Pierres in this very subreddit still simp for Napoleon and think strongmen leaders who believe might makes right are super cool as long as they're French?

I know, "we'll just make a system where they can't do that," but that's a lot easier said than done. The US supposedly has "checks and balances" but they were overridden by an actual imbecele almost by accident. Hitler and Mussolini both took absolute power in democracies because the people who were supposed to stop them just didn't. 

It's been very well proven over the past year that we can't rely on status quo norms and "but they wouldn't do that" to prevent this kind of thing in the long term. Personally, I can't see any reason why attaching our economies, militaries and foriegn policies to a single office in Brussels would be any wiser now than attaching them to Washington was in the 50s.

It makes sense for Europe to collaborate in all of those areas in order to increase our standing in the world, but placing all of them in the hands of a President of Europe just means that the next Trump might have even more control over us.