I think it's really telling that bitcoin is seen as problematic because of the energy consumption. But as you write, the value it brings is not talked about at all. And I completely agree with you, people consume energy on all kinds of 'unnecessary' things like Christmas lights.
Yes EU is a nightmare when it comes to its bureaucracy but I still think it has also brought something good. The freedom of movement is something I really appreciate, it's so easy and hassle-free to move to any EU country. But of course, much of what the EU does could preferably be stripped-down.
There's always going to be a reason to hate bitcoin, I have accepted this, its all used to manufacture consent from those who have not bothered to do their research. So you have this army of people citing some random paper from a Danish chick that says oh bitcoin wastes energy and no one questions it or even reads it because her assumptions are a stretch of note. Assuming that energy output scales linear with transactions and Users on the network, it's so elementary it's laughable.
I would agree with you there, I think that countries in the EU require more independence, so let's say for example bitcoin or GDPR, why does everyone have to comply, some can, others don't, this creates jurisdictional advantages and those that made the best decisions win. If everyone has to side with consensus, Germany and France always win.