> A currency is a tool that is linked to industrial outputs and therefore can affect the economy of a country. The EU is not the Eurozone, you are conflating t

> A currency is a tool that is linked to industrial outputs and therefore can affect the economy of a country. The EU is not the Eurozone, you are conflating two concepts. > When the Euro was introduced it forced Germany into a devaluation of it's currency since the euro was weaker than the Mark. That in turn made Germany into the power house of Europe whereas in France, it made goods more expensive and increased the labor costs which means that most of the industrial capacity of France left and went overseas and unemployment started rising. Everywhere the Euro is introduced sees a spike in prices from corporations taking advantage of it, again you are conflating the Eurozone with the EU, they are different things. > The euro's problem is that it is not adapted to the countries with weaker economies who could do a devaluation if they did not have it in order to boost their exports. Completely agree, the ECB's monetary policy is not ideal when there are so many different economies under it. > Secondly, you mention 27 different tax structures which is exactly what Marco Draghi is highlighting in his report. If he is talking about it, that surely means that these problems still exist. Yes, the problem exists, exactly because the EU is first and foremost an economic union, not a federation, allowing countries to maintain their sovereignty including set their own tax policies is the only way it can exist right now. There's no appetite to create a EU Federation in its member-states, while that doesn't exist there will be many issues with the EU. It doesn't mean that without the EU the countries would be faring better, you are jumping into conclusions from a non-logical standpoint, conflating that the EU isn't perfect for everyone doesn't mean it's not good for everyone, separate these concepts in your head. > For the last 30 years, the EU has been sold to the people of Europe as the Messiah. No, the EU has been sold as a bloc that makes Europe stronger than if it didn't exist, I'd invite you to describe exactly how you think its member-states could be faring better by themselves outside of the EU agreements. Let me know how 27 small states could be doing better on their own rather than in an unified trading bloc with common regulations to reduce friction in trading. > It will produce economic growth they said, it will make things better for everyone they said and so on and so forth. From my little corner of the world, we can see that these promises have not been fulfilled and far from it. It did, the problem is that we live in a world where the EU exists so you can't see how Europe would be without it. Again you are conflating the EU having issues with the non-existence of the EU being better, those are very different things... > If the EU was meant to protect us, it has failed. The EU can't even help Ukraine properly. What kind of deterrent is that? The EU was not a defence alliance, it's slowly growing into taking defence as part of its mandate. Again, since it's not a federation there was no appetite to create a common EU defence force, each member-state kept its sovereignty in defence matters. With the war in Ukraine there is a new appetite to push the EU into those matters, it takes time to enact changes across 27 different countries with their own cultures... You are just too eager and cannot comprehend that it seems. > If it was meant to create economic growth, look at what is happening now, sandwiched in a trade war between the US and China with no way to respond to either one of them as we depend on China for our stuff and we depend on the US for all our tech. > America innovates, Europe regulates and China copies. America has 350+ million consumers in its market, with no language barriers, and as varied as each state is in the USA it's really much more homogeneous than the differences between Denmark and Greece, or Poland and France, etc. You can't expect the same in the EU, which again is not a federation. Still, Sweden as an EU member is above the USA in rankings of innovation, the EU can foster that since Sweden can trade freely with all its members and other member-states can learn from the innovative ones. Stop trying to dismantle the EU because there are issues, the spirit of it has always been to acknowledge those failures and work together to build it stronger, you are exactly the type of person who will undermine that tenet instead of helping it. If you don't like it, move away from it, go to the USA.