The commission's tech sovereignty package aims to reduce dependence on Silicon Valley.
While the UK shares some concerns, British governments have been more comfortable within a US-led tech ecosystem.
Artificial intelligence may prove the clearest divergence.
The EU has led with comprehensive regulation, while the UK markets itself as a lighter-touch alternative to attract AI investment.
Institutionally, the EU is moving away from national vetoes.
The arrival of Hungary's new prime minister, Péter Magyar, has provided an opportunity to move toward majority voting in foreign policy, sanctions, and enlargement.
These developments are not necessarily wrong for the EU, nor should they preclude the UK from rejoining or pulling the EU in a more liberal direction from within.
But any serious rejoin debate must start from an honest assessment of what the EU has become.
>>> Djed Spence Wears Custom Jaw Brace for England at World Cup
The real question is no longer whether Britain could recover its old opt-outs and budget rebates, but whether it is prepared to join a union that is more fiscally integrated, interventionist, geopolitical, and less British than the one it left.
