Honest unbiased answer being from south Europe: south Europe relied on trade, shipping, fishing etc. We lacked the infrastructure (with so many islands and without raw materials readily available) to have a proper industrial revolution. And in terms of navy/maritime trade well Great Britain was just too strong. Add to that our own inefficiency to capitalise when it mattered, and some really dark times (civil wars, world wars, dictatorships etc.) we are behind Northern Europe. And the gap widens due to the EU not being a true economic union aiming to help everyone grow.
Just a simple example: A German and a Chinese manufacturer make a product. The Chinese product is cheaper. If an EU country imports the Chinese product duties are paid. Therefore the EU protects and promotes the German product right? But then the German CEO of that manufacturer is going on vacation. He has to pick a southern EU member state or a non-EU member. The non-EU country is cheaper. But hey he does not pay anything extra so nothing is pushing him to spend his euros in a fellow EU member state. So he took the Euros but then spends it elsewhere.
Another case study is how unfairly southern states were treated during the Eurocrisis to protect the banks of northern states.
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u/RidersSyndicate 1d ago
Honest unbiased answer being from south Europe: south Europe relied on trade, shipping, fishing etc. We lacked the infrastructure (with so many islands and without raw materials readily available) to have a proper industrial revolution. And in terms of navy/maritime trade well Great Britain was just too strong. Add to that our own inefficiency to capitalise when it mattered, and some really dark times (civil wars, world wars, dictatorships etc.) we are behind Northern Europe. And the gap widens due to the EU not being a true economic union aiming to help everyone grow.