Comment by apples_oranges
8 hours ago
I think originally the EU was conceived as a peace project and it succeeded so far in that. Some do not like how it evolves, some want the benefits of the market but not the rules that come with it. Ok, but at least nowadays the EU is promising more than just the market, for instance democratic standards, health regulation, social cohesion, addressing climate change.
I think it's not fair to pick the one thing that appeals to some group and say, this was their mission and they've lost track of what they exist for. I do not think this was ever the case and certainly isn't the case now.
Yes and they believed that the solution that would provide peace would be mixing their economies so they no longer competing directly and instead had a common market like the USA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Rome
Which has slowly been happening the whole time the EU existed, no?
The difference between a single market like the USA, and the EU has much more to do with cultural and language barriers, at the same time different countries in the EU have found their niche in the common market, different countries have their own comparative advantages, and use that to supply other EU members much more easily than pre-EU.
Can you expand on the argument that the EU has failed as a single market? Quite curious to hear that perspective.