I take it you re not a European? There are many reasons for EU citizens to be miserable. I would say the two main ones are impoverishment and mass migration. Both are a result of their integration into the EU as there are specific frameworks governing these predicaments. Let's take the example of Italy and the Lisbon Treaty as an example to illustrate economic degradation. One of the arguments of EU proponents is that member States receive a lot of money in handouts. While this is true, what is not said is that this money is paid back tenfold over time, by the taxpayer. EU integration de facto places you under the Lisbon Treaty, namely with regards to State funding. What does that mean? A mechanism compels EU States to borrow from the European Investment Bank, which requires borrowing on the financial market (whereas before that, they self-financed themselves). What is truly cynical is that these same institutions claim they focus on 'stability' and 'sound management' when they are designed to cause abyssal debt (leading to 'reforms' and 'austerity', always to the detriment of the people). The Treaty was signed in 2007 and became effective in 2009. Here is a self-explanatory graphic for Italy:
