> I'm taken completely off guard that calling the EU socialist would be in any way contentious.
Well, then you should look up words you're using. Nobody considers the EU to be socialist. The word "socialism" is poorly defined, but as a minimum it does away with private ownership of the means of production. No such thing is happening in the EU - private corporations are well and alive.
Every first world country (and many others too) bar the USA has universal healthcare (it's not "free", we have to pay for it), and even the US has consumer protection (sometimes even more so than the EU) and laws that companies must obey. And of course, no place on earth has "equality for all", certainly not the EU, where wealth inequality is quite high.
Well, then you should look up words you're using. Nobody considers the EU to be socialist. The word "socialism" is poorly defined, but as a minimum it does away with private ownership of the means of production. No such thing is happening in the EU - private corporations are well and alive.
Every first world country (and many others too) bar the USA has universal healthcare (it's not "free", we have to pay for it), and even the US has consumer protection (sometimes even more so than the EU) and laws that companies must obey. And of course, no place on earth has "equality for all", certainly not the EU, where wealth inequality is quite high.