EUobserver.com
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Czech republic has joined Slovenia among new member states with higher levels of wealth per capita than old member Portugal, according to European Commission statistics.

The central European country enjoyed gross income per capita of 73 percent of the EU 25 average last year compared to 71 percent in Portugal, according to the latest estimate by the commission's statistical wing, Eurostat.

The spending power comparison takes into account lower consumer prices in the Czech republic compared to Portugal however, with Portuguese people still carrying more money in their pockets in absolute terms.

That is certainly good news but the last paragraph is crucial. A Czech traveling around the EU will feel poorer than a person from Portugal. And that may be the key to the national psyche.