I think you can hide it but not uninstall it. My understanding is the EU's objection is that Photos app still provides the default photo picker functionality when the app is gone; and they'd like Google Photos to satisfy that role if a user prefers. Of course, the EU's approach here is to be coy about what it wants and only make it explicit alongside a headline-grabbing fine.
In reality it would play out a lot more like the Web Apps episode: if the barrier to entry for any new idea was it had to meet the EU's extensive list of arbitrary rules, most new ideas would never be realized. I guess it's time saved, but not in the sense you think.
