It's a mixed picture though isn't it? I mean France and Germany may be fine but the same cannot be said for southern EU, which has decades long, seemingly intra

It's a mixed picture though isn't it? I mean France and Germany may be fine but the same cannot be said for southern EU, which has decades long, seemingly intractable economic difficulties e.g. Mezzorgiono. I don't see that the EU has magically transformed such regions, and I suppose you can argue about the EU's ability to influence such situations, but on the other hand I don't think the Euro has helped matters.