But....But....Free Trade woooorrrrkkss. Look at the EU
When the EU members dump Free Trade and the EU....only then their economies will improve
If you ever get a look at the treaties that are essentially the EU’s constitution, you’d see what an abomination it really is. Centrally-planned economy is just the tip of the iceberg.
The EU doesn’t have Free Trade. The EU is a customs and tariff union.
EU members face heavy barriers to trading outside of the EU. Internally they havge to deal with formidable Government intervention in the form of subsidies and vendor-financing to protected industries.
The Euro in particular is a statist strait-jacket designed to remove competition and economic freedom. Countries in the Eurozone cannot deprice their currency to make themselves competitive - and currency is half of every transaction.