The Brits are something else.lol Totally heated, volatile situation and I don't think one person cursed.:smt053 My impulse if two skinny as kids were coming at me like that would be to punch one of them, even if they were both drunk and one of them probably was ready to smash that bottle on my head. But Europe is less racist than the U.S., somebody on this forum told us...lol
Not good Europeans, meaning not always willing to participate like the other member states. Always looking for opt outs. Not part of Schengen, not adopting the Euro etc Many European countries have a lot of trade with Russia and have a lot to lose over sanctions. Many feel they were pushed into action against Russia by the U.S. With the U.K. out of the E.U. the remaining countries will be less influenced by the U.S. and will re establish better relations with Russia.
I think the reasons for staying out of the Euro were sound, being able to set our own interests rates and what not helped us stabilise our country quicker during the downturn. For every dozen people who say the Euro has been a successful currency you can find two dozen who disagrees and thinks struggling Euro members would have recovered better under their own currency. Having a natural border(We are an Island you know) means Schengen would never really be implemented the way it was in mainland Europe even if we had adopted it. I would say we are good Europeans because we caution other members to think clearly and not just jump over the cliff because the main body of European lemmings want you to. I will say again I'm surprised by the leave vote actually winning, I knew it would be close but honestly saw it as 60% stay in. Trouble is there were all sorts of things putting the nations nose out of joint around the time that people really started thinking about their votes TTIP was one that had my Dad grumbling and I think that was his reason for voting out. Many many issues and not all of them about immigration did this and I think the E.U was very inconsiderate by bringing these things to the forefront when we were so near to a vote on our future within the E.U (stupid even imo) Article from the Independent on TTIP What is TTIP? And six reasons why the answer should scare you Have you heard about TTIP? If your answer is no, don’t get too worried; you’re not meant to have The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a series of trade negotiations being carried out mostly in secret between the EU and US. As a bi-lateral trade agreement, TTIP is about reducing the regulatory barriers to trade for big business, things like food safety law, environmental legislation, banking regulations and the sovereign powers of individual nations. It is, as John Hilary, Executive Director of campaign group War on Want, said: “An assault on European and US societies by transnational corporations.” Since before TTIP negotiations began last February, the process has been secretive and undemocratic. This secrecy is on-going, with nearly all information on negotiations coming from leaked documents and Freedom of Information requests. But worryingly, the covert nature of the talks may well be the least of our problems. Here are six other reasons why we should be scared of TTIP, very scared indeed: 1 The NHS Public services, especially the NHS, are in the firing line. One of the main aims of TTIP is to open up Europe’s public health, education and water services to US companies. This could essentially mean the privatisation of the NHS. The European Commission has claimed that public services will be kept out of TTIP. However, according to the Huffington Post, the UK Trade Minister Lord Livingston has admitted that talks about the NHS were still on the table. 0:00 / 0:00 UK: Day of Dissent in London tackles TTIP 2 Food and environmental safety TTIP’s ‘regulatory convergence’ agenda will seek to bring EU standards on food safety and the environment closer to those of the US. But US regulations are much less strict, with 70 per cent of all processed foods sold in US supermarkets now containing genetically modified ingredients. By contrast, the EU allows virtually no GM foods. The US also has far laxer restrictions on the use of pesticides. It also uses growth hormones in its beef which are restricted in Europe due to links to cancer. US farmers have tried to have these restrictions lifted repeatedly in the past through the World Trade Organisation and it is likely that they will use TTIP to do so again. The same goes for the environment, where the EU’s REACH regulations are far tougher on potentially toxic substances. In Europe a company has to prove a substance is safe before it can be used; in the US the opposite is true: any substance can be used until it is proven unsafe. As an example, the EU currently bans 1,200 substances from use in cosmetics; the US just 12. 3 Banking regulations TTIP cuts both ways. The UK, under the influence of the all-powerful City of London, is thought to be seeking a loosening of US banking regulations. America’s financial rules are tougher than ours. They were put into place after the financial crisis to directly curb the powers of bankers and avoid a similar crisis happening again. TTIP, it is feared, will remove those restrictions, effectively handing all those powers back to the bankers. 4 Privacy Remember ACTA (the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement)? It was thrown out by a massive majority in the European Parliament in 2012 after a huge public backlash against what was rightly seen as an attack on individual privacy where internet service providers would be required to monitor people’s online activity. Well, it’s feared that TTIP could be bringing back ACTA’s central elements, proving that if the democratic approach doesn’t work, there’s always the back door. An easing of data privacy laws and a restriction of public access to pharmaceutical companies’ clinical trials are also thought to be on the cards. 5 Jobs The EU has admitted that TTIP will probably cause unemployment as jobs switch to the US, where labour standards and trade union rights are lower. It has even advised EU members to draw on European support funds to compensate for the expected unemployment. Examples from other similar bi-lateral trade agreements around the world support the case for job losses. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the US, Canada and Mexico caused the loss of one million US jobs over 12 years, instead of the hundreds of thousands of extra that were promised. 6 Democracy TTIP’s biggest threat to society is its inherent assault on democracy. One of the main aims of TTIP is the introduction of Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), which allow companies to sue governments if those governments’ policies cause a loss of profits. In effect it means unelected transnational corporations can dictate the policies of democratically elected governments. ISDSs are already in place in other bi-lateral trade agreements around the world and have led to such injustices as in Germany where Swedish energy company Vattenfall is suing the German government for billions of dollars over its decision to phase out nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Here we see a public health policy put into place by a democratically elected government being threatened by an energy giant because of a potential loss of profit. Nothing could be more cynically anti-democratic. There are around 500 similar cases of businesses versus nations going on around the world at the moment and they are all taking place before ‘arbitration tribunals’ made up of corporate lawyers appointed on an ad hoc basis, which according to War on Want’s John Hilary, are “little more than kangaroo courts” with “a vested interest in ruling in favour of business.” So I don’t know about you, but I’m scared. I would vote against TTIP, except… hang on a minute… I can’t. Like you, I have no say whatsoever in whether TTIP goes through or not. All I can do is tell as many people about it as possible, as I hope, will you. We may be forced to accept an attack on democracy but we can at least fight against the conspiracy of silence.
EU was a rickety experiment from the start. I mean, how can you combine your economies without reconciling your cultural values, etc.? That's like me and you sharing a bank account, but I make more $$ and am a workaholic, while you make less and are lackadaisical about earning. That being said, I hoped UK had stayed and was shocked when I heard the news. The failure of the EU (if it further unravels) will have big implications... including some "unknown unknowns"... Hope the EU works it out and the UK is chided. Russia backs the disintegration of the EU btw, including (it is rumored) financially backing right-wing groups all over the EU (and even the far right here in america...) P.S. -- let me get this off my chest: I think those images of people applauding and welcoming refugees into germany were a foolish move and only helped the predators who arrange trips in rickety boats across the meditteranean (sp?) ... Idealism is good, but please take human nature into account... Most humans are not idealists, but predators instead... especially those coming from places where kids are likely to go hungry. Besides importing people, they should have taken the crisis as an opportunity to EXPORT the values that makes germany a success... Let them know why and how they're able to be so generous. Don't just import people blindly and let them bring the same cultural values that made the places they're fleeing such hellholes...
The recent report into the U.K.s participation in the Iraq war, shows yet again how the British follow the United States without question. At the time other European countries were ridiculed for not participating. Now we have a huge mess in Iraq and Syria and we in Europe is suffering the consequences. There is now a backlash against immigrants and the rise in righ wing nationalist groups. It played a major part in the U.K.s decision to leave the European Union. Now all we need is U.S. interference in former Soviet states like Ukraine.
Not sure about the U.S side on interference in Ukraine, but I do know that the E.U was giving consideration to maybe extending E.U membership to the Ukraine therefore bringing then under the protection of it's umbrella. It was an unpopular idea due to the problems it could cause. We can't be the heroes of the world neither should we stick our nose into fights we have no business or have any chance of winning.
Usually that is how things seem to run Apparently the E.U has been negotiating some trade deal with the Ukraine which Russia is not happy about as they have tariff free trade between them and the Ukraine which could potentially see Russia flooded with European goods affecting their own market. As well as massive amounts of loans forked out to the Ukraine you could maybe see why they are pissed off with Ukraine. There is something distinctly off about the Ukraine and I don't think much truth telling is going on from them.
We never really know the truth about these places. Incidentally, as a WM interested in BM, I would prefer to be living in Western Europe ( France, U.K. Germany, Belgium etc ) than some of the Eastern European ones.