Totally different games and insanely more complex. However, like
@AFL_ITALIA said you can mitigate some of the difficulty by picking nations who are powerful at the start of the game (1444). The learning curve IS steep but it is quick to get into the game. Playing in a mp session or on a discord call with a friend for 1-2 hours just to get everything explained is how I've taught the game to 4-6 people. Then you go and play by yourself. Much like Dwarf Fortress, embrace that losing is fun. Yes, as you get better you will "paint the map" with your nation color but early on you will have pitfalls due to not always thinking of specific mechanics or not keeping up with specifics areas of the game.
And as you play, a very decent AI is playing 200+ other nations in your game. And they will ruthlessly pounce on any big mistake you make. And thats part of the fun.
I would recommend you get on a shared-screen game with somebody and they walk you through the most imposing aspect of the game: the UI. When you first fire up EU4, the biggest fear/turnoff is how much stuff is going on. So many tabs, so many buttons to click, so much information. And you'll learn what is important, what isn't.
If you ever want to hop on a discord, I'd be happy to sit down and share my screen and walk you through at least the starting screen of a game and what everything means and how a typical game will start out. From there, you learning and mastering a nation or game mechanic is all part of the adventure.
- - - Updated - - -
How
@Tak! to answer your question, if Civilization is difficult for you and too much I would imagine EU4 would definitely be more so.