This is the underlying truth for all international trade.
Most countries don't have unique industry/resources in a globalized trade world.
Consequently, population size and economy are the final arbiters of relative trade power. The EU blocking up to create something of comparable negotiating power to the US and China is critical.
Nobody is ever thrilled with the sausage making of treaties and trade agreements -- that's the definition of compromise. But scale does give countries the best chance to strike the best deal possible.
This is a nice theory, but we can now see this is not how it played out in the EU. EU does have better bargaining power, but not everybody has gained. The larger states have been able to extract even more value from the growing bargaining power, while smaller states have lost all their ability for negotiation.
Most countries don't have unique industry/resources in a globalized trade world.
Consequently, population size and economy are the final arbiters of relative trade power. The EU blocking up to create something of comparable negotiating power to the US and China is critical.
Nobody is ever thrilled with the sausage making of treaties and trade agreements -- that's the definition of compromise. But scale does give countries the best chance to strike the best deal possible.