At the moment Germany appears to have massive power in the EU and the balancing forces should be France and the UK. But France currently tends to act in tandem with Germany.
The EU as a block of 28 countries counts as the world's second largest economy by GDP, but Germany (4th), the UK (5th) and France (6th) make up more than half of the total.
The remaining 25 countries are relatively minor economies with Spain next largest at 14th (less than half the GDP of France), then Netherlands at 17th, Sweden at 23rd. Even Poland is bigger than Belgium.
Should the UK exit, Germany's percentage of the rump EU GDP rises from today's 20% to 25% further increasing the perception of power. Only France is an economic challenge (if challenge is a viable word with Holland running the economy). With argumentative Britain out of the room, Germany will have even more freedom to meld the EU in the direction it wants.
Could a rump EU hold together? Would other countries (Netherlands?) be tempted to follow the UK's lead?
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