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What welfare are you talking about? Italy has been a net payer [0] in EU contributions from since I could remember

[0] https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2016/50/netherlands-largest-ne...

The biggest welfare is being in the same political Union as better functioning economies. I shudder to think how expensive it would be for Italy to raise money on the international bond market if it wasn't for the ECB.

More than offset by the ability to control their own currency and interest rates. They could immediately print away their external debts, for example.

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