Except Finland is a country and Texas is just one state in a country. That's where the confusion usually results.
While the legal and cultural dynamics are different, the EU/member states are comparable to the US and it's states. I think if you're talking about "the European mind" as opposed to the "American", it seems fair to compare all of Europe to all of (North) America, no? Otherwise there is no analogue to US states in Europe, there are just countries and their (variously named) counties etc.
