Well, broadly speaking, the idea of closer co-operation and economic ties through the formation of a european community has resulted in damping down the unrest within europe, probably the bloodiest continent there is.
When people are scared, when people are struggling to find jobs, to retain a roof over their heads, then fringe politics gains a foothold - extreme left or extreme right, and the solutions offered from both ends of the spectrum are often surprisingly similar. In times of flux, frightened people seek a bedrock of certainty, and extremist parties offer that simplicity.
Personally, I think the the EU would be better off without Greece in it, and the Greeks would probably be better off outside the restrictions of the euro, but for ordinary greeks this must be a horrible time to be living through.
I think there are some very good social and market arguments supporting the notion of an EU, a community of nation states with a single marketplace, but attempting to impose a single currency, a logical extension of the idea of a single, united marketplace, was in hindsight always going to be problematic without political and economic union - and that is almost impossible to achieve.
What all european community taxpayers have been left with is the prospect of attempting to prop up the whole fiscal unity project with taxpayers money, and right now it would seem we are loaning billions of euros to these troubled economies merely to service bank debt and therefore bankers bonuses.