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It is very easy to say that the EU has been good or bad in reference to individual countries - but that is not what this question is concerned with. So let's forget how much the Poles benefit from being able to work in the more developed member states like the UK, France and Germany. Let's also forget how much cash those same states have to pour into developing the less developed states, like Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Let's also forget all the 'national identity' nonsense. There is no reason why the EU has to impinge on people's sense of who they are, or on their cultural values. Lest instead look at where Europe might be if it hadn't been for the EU.

Is it seriously likely that Germany, the UK, France or Spain could compete with countries like the US and Russia on their own? Of course its not. Simple reason why - those countries are smaller, they have less people and less natural resources. Furthermore, is it likely, that if, buy some small miracle all these little countries of Europe had managed to survive the Cold War (economically, NATO took care of the militarily), they would still be able to compete on the bigger more expanded global playing field, with the massive resources of China and India? I don't think so.

The European Union is fundamentally essential to the economic survival of every nation in Europe. They all have to work together as a single economic bloc to be able to match larger competitors. In that sense, they key sense (national identity doesn't mean very much when you're starving), the EU has done nothing but good.

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