Cooperation and competition can be partial. Google and Microsoft compete internally and then cooperate when fighting external forces. There is no reason why this cannot work for European companies too.

The problem has more to do with the weak sense of belonging to a supranational identity. Californians and New Yorkers both identify as Americans before they identify as members of their home state; the opposite is true of most Europeans still. Change is slow.

>Californians and New Yorkers both identify as Americans before they identify as members of their home state; the opposite is true of most Europeans still.

You don't need to completely erase and crush ethnic and national identities in order to standardize on technical platform for the common market.