I'm not sure that last part is uncommon throughout the EU which is little more than a confederation, with each country fiercely proud of its heritage. the only people I met there that had positive things to say about the EU were the young ones who appreciated the mobility it provided them. I used to work with international divisions and God help you if you needed to get something done in the summer. after a few decades, my company finally realized that the budget had to be done before august. a mid september deadline was always missed because the european affiliates basically did nothing during august. in my short time in Greece, a common thread seemed to be that while taxes and fees to open a business might be low, there was often a significant unseen tax...otherwise known as a bribe, that made life difficult. I'd be surprised if a larger than usual chunk of the economy isn't off the books to avoid dealing with the public sector there. in egypt, most of the economy was off the books.