You can always join us
When I was in Italy, I remember the Italians being delighted because they joined the Euro with a strong Lira, which gave the people fantastic buying power. All of a sudden, the Audi's, BMW's and Mercedes that were previously unattainable became a reality, and very soon they were everywhere. And then they saw the flipside, while others also joined the Euro with strong currencies it powered and fuelled the German export market. It was a very clever move by them as the DM was 'weak' by comparison. Japan only wishes it could devalue its currency so effectively!
Of course it decimated Italian sales in their home market as well as exports by making them far more expensive which badly knocked Italian manufacture and industry. I worked on a factory floor there for a while, when I came back to visit the friends I'd made it was apparent that in very little time things were not good for them and they were all moaning.
It's true the UK retained its independence largely throughout, we were always the handbrake for the European project, we were never committed to the European project as a people and the referendum brings that out, I have never considered myself to be European, yet I love Europe, just not the European Union. I feel every country has been diminished my its EU membership, robbing them of their soul and indentity, leaving a hollow shell of their former selves. Without the UK, the EU will be steered by the Franco German contingent, Macron clearly relishes the opportunity like a circling vulture to buddy up close to Germany. They say the UK was one foot in and one foot out. I'd agree.
When push comes to shove we voted to take both feet out, we'll see what the election now holds. For better or worse, and as exasperating as it has been to watch, our political 'system' has performed well in dealing with such a complex issue, there has been some massive subversion and underhand gameplay by remainer MP's subverting and sabotaging Brexit, it is telling that so many are now standing down at the election. Had this not been the case and the players committed to their manifesto pledges, a better deal entirely could have been worked on, the deals have been a massive failure of TM's government also, trying to deliver a remain Brexit, instead, leaving a convoluted and contrived agreement. There could have been better alternatives and I don't fear a no deal outcome.
The UK has always been a safe haven with a political and legal system that provides confidence to investors. While so many talk the UK and the £ down, there has been a huge influx of foreign investment, it's not pleasing to see the country being bought up, but in our position of 'weakness' as so many of our remain politicians have kept deriding, clearly the markets feel there are rewards to be made or they wouldn't have invested. Google's new HQ at St.Pancras is a shining beacon of that. Out with the bankers in with the tech companies.
I would love to see Italy and Spain follow suit. I think Italy would be tempted, I don't think Spain would.
Frankly, how can one size fit all? Is it better for a country to be pooling its sovereignty with 28 others than looking after its own interests? The EU tries to redistribute commerce; so these people do farming, these people make cars etc etc, so each country loses a large portion of a certain industry and ceases to be self sufficient, relying on imports to pick up where protectionism has prevented it from continuing with its own produce.
Eventually, so much must be imported, relying on a huge freight infrastructure creating mass environmental impact, when it could be fresh and home produced. For what? A reduction in costs, or 'free trade' deals. Duty under WTO is f'all in the scheme of things a couple of % here or there and those rates would be set by us for imports, and cheapest rarely means best or even value. For us in the UK to be importing meat from the other side of the world because it's cheaper, frozen, well travelled, processed with special freezing and packaging techniques that close up all the pores to prevent bacteria so it can last longer but be tasteless in the process etc is plain stupid when it can be produced on our shores. Lack of economies of scale make our home market uncompetitive. There is a lot wrong with the EU. Frictionless trade and movement could have been achievable without controlling, undermining and reigning supreme over every member states self governance and the pretence that it's people have in any way any control over their futures when decisions are not made by anyone that is actually elected. God forbid when the rot and corruption sets in and they have an army and peace keeping force, or they raise taxes to cover their huge economic mismanagement. The European accounts have still not been signed off by the European court of auditors for the last 19 years.
some more of my 2p