Is the EU going to dissolve to a simple free trade area?

[Bereta_Eder]

nt

[Solly]

"The EU needs to get democratized fast"

[VetLegion]

In the margins of big European topics, Croatia becomes an official candidate for membership

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by OliverFA
Are we talking about the same EU? Like they forced themselves to reach and agreement this week when 22 countries where against them?

I meant: "France and Germany force themselves to agree between them two, to make a rock solid coalition of them both"
The French-German unison is not something natural, and there are plenty of things where the French and Germans should disagree, if they weren't united by the willingness to make a solid couple.

Precisely all this discussion about the Niza agreement is about preventing France and Germany from having the power to block any decission unilaterally. It would be needed just two "big" countries (France, Germany, UK and Italy) for it. That´s completely unfair for everyone else.

Same mantra again: that's what we need to strip the member States of the ultimate decision power in the EU, and trust it to a real Parliament.

[alva]

Bleh...we never should have allowed all of you in...we should have stuck with Holland and Luxembourg...

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by VetLegion
In the margins of big European topics, Croatia becomes an official candidate for membership

Here's hoping you'll be able to join in 2007, like Romania and Bulgaria

[VetLegion]

Thanks. The plan is to be ready by then and then the decision when to let us in is on the Union.

I'm against joining, but I'm all for embracing European standards in this corrupt and backward hellhole I luv

And the negotiations will force us to do that, despite strong opposition from entrenched local bureaucratic and political classes. Viva EU!

[Kuciwalker]

Its possible too that the UK would be allowed to join NAFTA.

*looks at map*

still

[The Viceroy]

Whats putting a whole load of people off the EU in the UK are the following things :-

Mass media that only talks about the negative aspects of the EU / or outright lie's about it.

Mass media that openly gives time to UK haters within Europe, and none to those that quite like the UK (i know many)

Mass media that only ever reports on the French presidents more arrogant and anti-UK comments, and none of the ones that may suggest a more balanced approach (if there is one, we don't know cos it don't get talked about in the media).

The many Europeans who read the UK papers, assume that ALL people in the UK hate the EU, and thefore hate the UK as a result due to the MASS MEDIA ...

If people were forced to take a small test which they had to pass before they could vote on the EU Constitution, which proved they actually knew what they were voting on .. how many of those who hate it, would actually get as far as voting ???

[Solly]

Reverse those comments Viceroy and "mass media" with "mainstream politicians"...

What riles most people in the UK is the way we are supposed to vote one way or other, as the politicians decree. When we don't vote that way, there is talk about the populace needing to be "taught" how to vote on the EU.

And that last line is again the sort of pretentious intellectualisation of the political process that makes people vote BNP or UKIP in the first place.

[The Viceroy]

UKIP only got where it did because ??? MASS MEDIA !!

BNP granted did not get any mass media attention, and did very very well in the elections .. so I accept that as some proof.

Of course politicians are telling you what they think !! thats why you elect them, if you don't like them, vote against them, and im sure you do.

This idea that if a politician says what you don't like to hear that somehow he's forcing you to agree with him is crazy !! you still have the choice to accept and reject.

What im saying is, the truth is, people out there really have no idea what the EU is about, and the only people saying anything is the media .. Ive hardly heard any politicians talk about it, never mind telling you what you should or should not think, the main 2 party's have attempted to avoid and fudge the issue as much as they can, because they know full well, there on a hiding to nowhere by the media just before an election ... no political party is going to pick a fight with the mass media at this time.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Spiffor
If the power was primarily held by the Parliament, things would get voted or rejected quickly. No need to check and balance it ten times, no need to spend humongous amounts of time haggling some favour or other. Much fewer expenditures, much faster process, and one that actually looks like what the Europeans want.

Even reading your post, I'm not quite certain about the political structure of the EU, but to a British-style democracy with an all-powerful legislature.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Kucinich
Even reading your post, I'm not quite certain about the political structure of the EU

That's the whole point
More seriously, the political structure of the EU is undecided between a confederation of Nation States, and a federal superstate. The agreement, however, is that the EU rests on the shoulders of technocrats.

but to a British-style democracy with an all-powerful legislature.

Well, there are many forms of parliamentary democracy, not all of which are like in Britain.
The problem with the current form of the EU is that the checks and balances are far too many (hence slow and expansive), and they aren't performed by the right people.

Imagine the US being governed by the 50 governors, who haggle with each other. Imagine the House of Representatives is less powerful than those 50 (they're not senators, they're the very governors), and imagine than the president's main role is to promote consensus. You'd have a good idea of what the EU looks like right now.

[Kuciwalker]

ewww

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Spiffor

That's the whole point
More seriously, the political structure of the EU is undecided between a confederation of Nation States, and a federal superstate. The agreement, however, is that the EU rests on the shoulders of technocrats.

I wouldn't call them technocrats, they're bureaucrats. The difference being that a technocrat implies a sense of technical or scientific expertise.