He was talking Brexit, I think. The EU started as a trade pact that then suffered the Mother of all mission creep.
Warping from a free trade agreement into a overriding pseudo government.
The fear is that a No deal Brexit would break the UK. Where as on the other end the fear is Brexit might signal the break of the EU.
Making matters more interesting was that PM May wanted to stay in the EU so not giving a millimeter to her may have been a try at getting her to push the UK to stay. But Johnson is a Brexit-er.
The EU needs the UK at the very least as a trading partner. And visa versa although both could survive a no deal it would be draconian for a while on both sides of the divide.
There is like not a real correct statement in that post.
The EU and its predeccors were always economical and poltical unions. Community method is the crucial aspect of any European union, emphazing the decision making of supranational bodies. Though it's telling that the English wiki article about that crucial framework is basically just two sentences while the German and French articles are actually long written out articles.
May and the Torries were never interested in a serious solutio, for them it was a way of gaining more power and control in domestic matters, they are completely incapable of getting a workable framework running past Brexit - see how the UK side asked for an extention TWICE (remember the country which wanted out of the EU).
Also you only need to check the trade values of the EU countries with the UK and visa verse. For the EU is Brexit troublesome, for the UK is Brexit a catastrophe - with a sudden loss of free trade not just with the EU but (remember the EU is that bloc with the most trading deals total- and volumewise - and recently creating the largest trading area in history between EU and Japan).
I can't see how most of those developement announcements will actually end in something meaningful, UK actually ordering more than the already ordered 48 F-35B would be an archivement, which isn't safe at all.