Just to provide the counterpoint (perhaps from a less biased position than Soros): the EU was doomed from the start due to member countries (excluding GB) losing sovereignty over monetary policy (i.e. common currency) but retaining sovereignty over fiscal policy. This is a problem because there is no strong mechanism for &#x27;horizontal fiscal equalisation&#x27; (HFE) across EU member countries.<p>Take Greece and Germany in the lead up to the GFC for instance. Germany&#x27;s economy is going great-guns and national income is rising thanks to their strong exports. Greece is not doing so well, with low productivity and low or negative economic growth. If Greece was not in the EU, they&#x27;d have had two options to stimulate their economy: government spends more (fiscal policy) or its central bank lowers interest rates (monetary policy). The latter option also has the nice side benefit of depreciating their currency, meaning their exports become more price competitive.<p>However, because they&#x27;re a member of the EU monetary union, they&#x27;re stuck with the Euro as their currency. Which has a single centrally set interest rate. So with Germany (and other EU countries) doing well, while Greece (and others) doing poorly, the European Central Bank sets the interest rate &#x27;too low&#x27; for Germany, and &#x27;too high&#x27; for Greece. Therefore, Greece&#x27;s only option is to deficit spend. And they have to spend more than normal because EU monetary policy is working against them and they have little to no control over it. And because there&#x27;s no HFE, they have to go in to extreme budget deficit despite being monetarily yoked to countries like Germany.<p>I think that the monetary union will eventually dissolve and EU nations will move back to sovereign monetary policy. It&#x27;s hard to imagine the alternative: an effective and formal HFE mechanism being agreed. It&#x27;s a hard sell in domestic politics, especially if you happen to be one of the &#x27;successful&#x27; countries, who must now cross-subsidise &#x27;unproductive&#x27; neighbours.<p>It&#x27;s just my speculation, but I suspect they&#x27;ll hold on to free trade and &#x27;open boarders&#x27; within the EU.