Well huh. I did not know Ode to Joy was the EU's anthem, so thanks for educating me about that. It is a glorious piece of music no matter what use it might be put to, and even though the lyrics are decidedly Christian and Catholic to boot -- and so those of us not of that persuasion have to decide to bypass that level I suppose!
However, surely, as the EU national anthem, it has different lyrics? I don't speak any language other than English so I didn't pick up on the lyrics actually.
And I happen to agree with you about the UK, despite never having been there (and hoping not to offend any of the UK folk here at AW!) This is because I have had a few friends who live there and the sum of what they have shared about how it is for them turned me off completely.