[alephnerd]

> I'm one of these loser EU residents who has a different mindset, that chasing #1 position in terms of GDP generated per resident isn't the be all end all. Instead, people's happiness is on the top of my mind, and taking care of as many people as possible.

It's not an all or nothing dichotomy.

Social services get dramatically more expensive if you don't have as robust a local economy. All governments borrow money and need to service debts in order to pay for their social safety net, and that's much more expensive now due to higher interest rates and economic convergence.

And it's not like Eastern European EU member states are poor chumps anymore - they're fairly business friendly and some like Czechia have already caught up to Western European (Italy/France) level living standards.

This means you can't play wage arbitrage anymore by getting an underpaid janitor or nurse from Croatia or Poland to work at your local hospital like you could 10 years ago.