And appropriately so, for exactly those reasons!
Several years ago, the Patriarch of Constantinople visited the US. On his tour, he was to address a Roman Catholic/Orthodox ecumenical group. Given his previous statements, everyone was expecting him to give a talk such as you describe.
Quite frankly, people on all sides of the issue were stunned to hear him say that reunification would never be possible as the two churches now had a differing ontological understanding of God. That understanding was directly related to the filioque.
Ultimately, that understanding of God is directly linked to our understanding of the Church: is it headed by a single Patriarch or the Ecumenical Councils? Clearly, our two churches will always answer these two questions differently.
You are astute to recognize this point first made by St. Thomas Aquinas.
Clearly, our two churches will always answer these two questions differently.
I don't think this is necessarily true, especially if Catholics would reflect more fully on what saved the west from Pope Honorius' heresy and the Great Schism, and if Orthodox would reflect more fully on what saved the east from the Robber Synod of Ephesus.
The west needs to recognize that the Pope is still just a Bishop, and not some higher order of minister, and the east needs to recognize that an Ecumenical Council needs the Pope.