We are perfectly positioned within Europe. Why change it?
by William Keegan from on (#11NQ8)
Being in the EU but outside the euro and Schengen is highly advantageous - and far better than anything that could be achieved by leaving and renegotiating
'We should miss Britain a lot. But Britain would miss the European Union even more." The speaker was a senior member of the Italian government, in response to a question about the attitude of Italians to the thorny issue of Brexit. The occasion was the annual Venice Seminar, where members of the Italian government speak frankly, but not for direct attribution, on the political and economic scene.
For many years the views expressed at those seminars about the Italian economy have been a triumph of hope over experience. For example, the Italian economy managed, after the initial impact of the great recession of 2008-10, to contract further in 2011 and 2012 when even the British economy was beginning to recover.
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