Advantageous

John Peter and Duncan Clark attribute German economic success to its industrious workforce and astute managers (Letters, 12 February). They should have acknowledged that the Marshall Plan provided the foundation for German economic recovery. Germany was allowed to walk away from its pre-1945 debts, while other countries like the UK still had to pay theirs even as they dragged themselves out of the rubble of the war.

Economists like Roger Bootle and Joseph Stiglitz say that the way the EU is organised has benefited Germany. The creation of the euro, for example, has exposed the weaker economies of the EU to direct competition with Germany and deprived them of the safety valve of devaluation. Germany is enjoying an export boom at their expense.

The EU open-doors migration policy has also benefited Germany. The mass migrations the policy has unleashed across Europe have hit other countries hard, particularly the UK. Migrants are avoiding Germany, probably because of its history, and choosing the UK. Thus UK population has gone up by 5 million since 2001 and our public services are struggling to cope.

The EU that the UK joined in 1973 was a trading arrangement between independent states.

However, once the EU had enlarged to take in 28 countries its goal changed. One currency, open-doors migration and fiscal uniformity imply total integration. But the countries of Europe do not want to submerge their identities in a superstate. Which is why resistance is growing all across Europe.

LES REID Morton Street, Edinburgh