Current Economic State of Southern Europe
The region is generally a more developed (MDC) with a mixed economy. The GDPs are relatively low in most of the countries, except for Italy and Spain, which are the only ones reaching the trillions. Many countries in this region import fuel and export food related goods. The region is in a state of economic crisis with Greece being severely in debt and plagued with unemployment, the value of the euro has also dropped. Italy is also in a state of economic turmoil which greatly affects the entire region because Italy is such a huge country, both in size and commerce, government debt almost stands for 140% of its GDP.
Effects of the European Union (EU)
Currently, the Southern European countries in the European Union (EU) include Croatia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. Joining the EU particularly benefits poorer countries because the movement between the members of the EU is free, which means more and better opportunities may be presented, for instance jobs and education. There is also tax free trading between the countries as well as a common currency which makes traveling and business much more efficient. A set back of the EU is that it takes power away from the governments which can easily be transformed into corruption. All of countries in the EU have “shared benefits” which can be a disadvantage, for instance the 2011 Greece debt crisis nearly took down the economy of Portugal and Italy. Nearly all of the countries that joined the EU experienced a growth in GDP except for Greece, since leaving the EU is extremely difficult countries like Greece, that have a negative result, cannot leave the EU without going through a hectic process.