The 180 does not surprise me at all. GDPR and associated laws are a perfect example of the old 'Good intentions, unintended consequences'-pattern we see in laws all the time.
The results of the GDPR (and the unrelated Cookie Directive) on my everyday professional life are what made me - an European - from a flag-waving European-Unity-proponent to a heavy critic that dreams of a Dexit. And I know I am not the only one - public opinion is shifting - some because of cookie banners, some because of driving licenses, some because manufactuers have started to neuter their devices when sold to Europe, taking away features available everywhere else in the world, some because of the ridiculous VAT reporting regime that hits European businesses once they hit a 100k gross income mark, some for yet other reasons. And now they are trying hard to get the de-minimis-rule taken away, increasing trouble and cost for anyone who does cross-eu-border trading.
It's only been a matter of time even Brussles remembered that ultimately, their throne is built on sand, and that Europe has a history of getting rid of unreasonable leadership.
I'm not as miffled about that as others, but in Germany, licenses used to be forever (unless you yourself gave it back OR there was a court order, e.g. for a traffic-related crime). Enter the EU, and now licenses come with a renewal date, which is considered mostly a cash grab as you now have to buy a new copy every few years.
A few weeks ago, there even was an attempt to have air-traffic-style medicals beginning at 60, which, in a society that becomes both older AND worse at public transit, was highly unpopular.
You may think that's a little thing. The issue is: these little compound. And every time they come around the corner with a new regulatory clown act, people remember ... when lighting bulbs were a few cents instead of the energy-saving 10-euro new bulbs mandated by brussles ... when we were forbidden to have powerful vacuum cleaners or showerheads (yes, the new ones are not really worse, but they sound worse), ... and a hundred other little annoyances.
Not to mention that national governments like to blame Brussles for stuff they wanted, but which were highly unpopular. "Unfortunately, we cannot do anything, it was an EU decision (which we openly supported)".
And eventually, people become eurocritic. Which is one of the reasons why people start to vote for right-wing, eurocritic to anti-EU parties.
Hah, we already have those medicals in Hungary. Well, it definitely has some cash-grabby aspects, but - at least here - there's some real benefits to having a doctor think at least for 2 seconds about how someone's chronic conditions can and will affect them (and others!) on the roads.
People are getting glasses because the doctor told them that they need them for driving. People are getting regular blood sugar checkups because the doctors told them that driving with prediabetes is dangerous.
And even though I was surprised when they told one of my relatives that he only gets the license renewed for a few years and then he needs to get a checkup again, but he definitely fits the risk indicators. (Recently lost his wife after a very harsh and unfortunately unfair battle with the medical realities and the resource-constrainedness of healthcare, mental health problems, etc.)
...
regarding little things, I completely agree. This trade-off to have some environmental sustainability static look better at the cost of having far worse consumer experience doesn't make a lot of sense when we are not doing the obvious things to sweeten the trade-offs. (Ie. building more walkable cities, better insulation, better public transportation, yadda-yadda. But of course the European auto industries have a lot of influence.)
I think the rise of far-right is very well explained by the salience of immigration problems:
The results of the GDPR (and the unrelated Cookie Directive) on my everyday professional life are what made me - an European - from a flag-waving European-Unity-proponent to a heavy critic that dreams of a Dexit. And I know I am not the only one - public opinion is shifting - some because of cookie banners, some because of driving licenses, some because manufactuers have started to neuter their devices when sold to Europe, taking away features available everywhere else in the world, some because of the ridiculous VAT reporting regime that hits European businesses once they hit a 100k gross income mark, some for yet other reasons. And now they are trying hard to get the de-minimis-rule taken away, increasing trouble and cost for anyone who does cross-eu-border trading.
It's only been a matter of time even Brussles remembered that ultimately, their throne is built on sand, and that Europe has a history of getting rid of unreasonable leadership.