Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Will the EU Become Stronger WITHOUT Britain or will it Collapse? - TLDR News" video.
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@Jordie Cruyff That's unlikely to happen because the country is too small, in fact I suspect others like Norway, Iceland and Switzerland will join the EU at some point, they are more or less already EU members in a better sense than what the UK was with all it's op-outs but those 3 countries have little to no say in EU decision-making but still have to rubber stamp a lot of its rules, Norway will likely be the first as oil dries up, Switzerland next because as tech advances, they won't be as important as a trade route so many countries will bypass them and go around them which wouldn't do them any favours, we should also remember that the EU has a very light touch of those countries, that could change at any given moment in the future.
In any case, as long as the US, EU, China and other big powers continue to grow, that's going to push smaller countries to bundle up just to protect their political, economic and social system interest, otherwise, you'll get what is happening in the UK with Brexit in how some countries are trying to water down many things in the UK like food standards, labour laws, the health care system and so on.
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That's just the UK media, they make it seem like any disagreement and that's it, the EU is falling apart lol, they are clueless really, the threat of the EU and Euro falling apart has been there for decades according to them and yet it never happens because wanting something to happen and it's actually happening are two different things.
Anyway, I think without the UK in the EU, the odds of falling apart are less because the UK was a big problem to reforms and integration in the EU which kinda leaves the project in the middle of nowhere and makes it hard to serve the benefits of the members and people, that will likely be easier, especially for the Euro Zone countries to move ahead with real changes and with that, the next 10 years is going to be very interesting to see.
With all that said, according to the polls, 57% of Brits want to rejoin the EU, those numbers keep going up as time goes on and that is quite a high percentage that if a vote was done now, it's very likely the UK would rejoin the EU but I doubt the EU would allow that, it will only take one EU member to say no and a few likely will because it took them long enough to get us out, they wont want us in the political decision-making for quite some time now so the best the UK could hope for is single market and custom union unless the people vote to join the EU with at least 70% in favour, enough for the media, the public and the government to be less hostile towards the project.
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You means the ones like where Japan is threatening the UK to sign a deal in 6 weeks because they know the UK will get worse terms than what the EU could get, hence why Japan refused to roll over the EU trade deal with Japan for the UK, it suggests Japan knows they can get more out of the UK.
How about India who have said if the UK wants a good deal, the UK is going to have to open up access to visa free access for people of India to come to the UK, I'm sure that will go down well with the Brexiteers lol.
How about the US who keep threatening the UK to open up access to the NHS, lower food standards plus countless other things if you want any kind of deal from them.
China? I think the UK can kiss goob buy to any good deal with them with what is going on with Hong Kong.
What's ironic about all of Brexit, the EU might be our best hope of getting any good deal at all with how things are going but the UK will have to bend to the EU for that to happen, it sure doesn't look like we are getting good deals around the world when the vultures are out and this pandemic will likely help on that one.
This pandemic came at the worse possible time for the Brexiteers and that probably explains why support for rejoining the EU in the UK is surging, according to the latest polls, it's standing at 57% and even thought polls can be wrong, they rarely are when the margins are that high, in other words, if we had another vote, we would very likely rejoin the EU and what should really scare you is that number keeps going up, so wait till the pandemic and Brexit economic harm starts to bite the average people, that's when Brexit will really be seen as a mistake even to a lot of Brexiteers and that scares the hell out of the Tories lol.
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@bramolini4835 That old chestnut, most of them don't care about the UK or are more interested in seeing how they can take advantage of the UK whiles we are in a position of weakness.
Lets look at the facts, the US seems to want to screw the UK over on food standards, the NHS and labour laws, they want to lower standards in the UK whiles giving more access to it's corporations to take over the UK.
Then we have Japan which have already said they won't roll over the EU deal they have with Japan for the UK and now Japan threaten the UK to sign a deal in 6 weeks, what Japan is doing is striking whiles the UK is weak to get much better terms for themselves because they know the UK is desperate to sign any deal.
How about India, they've said if the UK wants a good deal with them, they will have to give visa free access for its people to work and live in the UK.
China? Well considering how the UK and Hong Kong are going, don't expect any help from China.
The sad reality is, the rest are too small to make much of a difference in trade terms to make up the loose of the EU and the irony is, the EU is our best hope of getting any kind of decent deal if the UK is more realistic on that.
Beside, according to polls, 57% of Brits want to rejoin the EU and those numbers keep creeping upwards with new polls, even with margins of errors and all that, that is quite a big swing away from Brexit and that should be quite alarming for Brexiteers because if that continues, the UK could be back in the EU in a decade with Euros in hand lol and whats better is the real impact of Brexit and this pandemic have not kicked in yet, wait till that really bites and support for rejoining could go up more.
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@bennett2874 I'm not sure about the UK, if we look at how things are turning out, the US seems quite hostile towards the UK on trade deals in that it's very likely to be very one sided, Japan have more or less ruled out the idea that the UK can't roll over the deal the EU made with Japan, suggesting Japan feels they can get more of the UK and thats been highlighted lately with Japan putting pressure on the UK to sign a deal in 6 weeks, Japan knows the UK is on it's knees and are hitting them whiles the iron is hot when if a deal happens, it will be good for Japan but not the UK.
Then we have China, well looking at how things are going with the UK, China and Hong Kong, I think the UK can kiss good buy any deal from them, the irony is, the EU is the UK's only real hope of getting a solid deal, a lot of the other countries are either too small or the UK doesn't trade with them much, not enough to counter the trade the UK has with the EU and that is a major problem for the UK.
In any case, it looks like the vultures are out to take advantage of the UK and the irony in that is that the EU is the only one who isn't acting like a vulture and that gives you a good indicator in who the UK's real friends are in the world, especially with all the abuse the UK have shouted at the EU the last few years..
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@Lionfish5656 It's just simple common sense, Brexiteers are living in the past thinking the UK is a great empire lol, the truth is, we have the EU, US, China and other rising powers, these will sideline all the smaller players because they can, it also means that these will be the ones making world laws, rules and regulations around the world, at the moment that's the EU and US that does that.
A lot of people don't realize it but the EU isn't here because we want it, it's here so us Europeans can compete on the world stage, so we can protect our political and economic interest and our social standards, the UK after Brexit is already showing many signs on how the vultures are coming out to take advantage of the UK in pushing them to weaken standards and the UK might be forced into doing it because they desperately need trade deals around the world.
In any case, I think in the long run, for the west to have any relevance, the EU is going to have to be strong and the EU and US are going to have to work together because none of them on their own can compete with the rising Asian powers.
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I think in the short term, the EU might be weaker without the UK but longer term I think the EU will be stronger as the UK always felt like a country that never wanted in the EU in the first place and only joined because they were the sick man of Europe and even once in, the UK had so many op-outs that you wonder why they stayed in at all lol.
The real benefit for the EU of the UK not being in is real reforms and integration can happen without the UK blocking it as the UK was by far the most hostile to any of that change which ironically will make the EU a much greater power on the world stage and on the UK's door step which I doubt they wanted that.
The irony is that in the UK, the polls are saying that 57% of the British public wants to rejoin the EU and it seems to be creeping upwards as time goes by, those polls suggest that if another vote was to be held now, the UK would vote to rejoin the EU by quite a margin and polls are rarely wrong when the numbers are that big.
As a Brit, the EU shouldn't let the UK back in, not until real changes from the government, the media and public changes on how they see the EU and that will take some times, so keep the UK out for at least a decade or two or longer and if the UK wants to protect its economy and to keep the vultures like the US away, the UK can always join the single market and custom union but whatever the EU does, don't let the UK into the political decision-making, they are far from ready for that and best being kept out.
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@adriansmith5241 Hardly, they are too small to even care about the geo-politics of the world.
But I do find it ironic how the popularise governments around the workd are making a right mess of this pandemic from the US, the UK, Brazil and so on, people voted for clowns that don't have a clue how to run a goverment and they wonder why things are so bad in those countries, the blame firmly goes on the people in those countries, I mean like the UK, did people even consider other policies of this government and if they were good for the countries, was the vote just purely about Brexit?, at the end of the day, these people are getting what they deserve and maybe next time they won't get so reckless with voting but I would put my money on it.
The other irony is, the EU and it's countries seem to be the more stable out of them all, the US is going off the rails, the UK already went off the rails lol, China is getting more hostile, the Europeans seem to be the more senseable ones that still have any real power left.
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@adriansmith5241 Something many in Australia want to scrap but that's a different debate, but in any case, all those 4 countries together are still too small and spread too thin around the world for it to really work, the only real power out of them is the UK and they are in decline thanks to Brexit, the UK had a lot more clout for it's size by having a big say in the EU, that is all gone and now a lot of countries are ignoring the UK and trying to take advantage of the UK, a few I can mention are the US, China, India, Japan and so on.
Ironically, the EU is one of the only big players that isn't trying to screw the UK other, all the EU is making sure that happens is the UK doesn't have as good of a deal that they did in the EU which is very fair really, a lot of the issues the UK have had over the last few years is wanting the same deal they had in the EU, that is never going to happen.
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@Lionfish5656 True but Trump is only one part of the problem, I know it's easy to blame Trump for a lot of what the US does or how things are in the US but a lot of Americans voted him in and could do so on the next election, that is where the real problem is, the American people, unless they change, countries around the world are just going to turn their backs on the US and we are seeing early warning signs of that from EU countries and even the UK, the US can't afford to lose these with the new Cold War that is building with the US and China.
Basically, the problems are much deeper in the US, Trump losing the next election won't change much for many outside the US because the US has become less reliable, hostile and unstable for the last 2 decades and that could continue to happen as China rises as a power because they seem to be the ones making the US more unstable but it's the American people from within that are causing the problems for the country, China is just setting fear for the stage of how power is shifting from the west to the east, so there is a fair chance the US could get more unstable as China rises.
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@jayc342009 If the people want to rejoin the EU, it will happen regardless of what you say but it won't happen any time soon mainly because it's unlikely the EU and all it's members would allow that, many have wanted to get rid of the UK for some time, they won't want to risk letting them back in any time soon.
Beside, the UK is a democracy, if the people change their minds and there will be a lot of reasons for them to want to change their minds once the reality of the lies kick in, the odds of rejoining are pretty high because Brexit was sold on a lie, something the Brexiteers can't deliver on, once that reality kicks in for most Brits, watch how their views change, in fact it's already changing, 57% of the public already want to rejoin the EU and that number is creeping upwards lol.
At this rate, Labour could fight the next election on rejoining the EU lol, the Tories can't because they've dug their own grave on Brexit and have to see it through, this could cut deep on the next election, but you know what is really funny about it, even if the UK wants to join, the EU wont let us back in and likely will let us in the single market and custom union, they won't want us in the political decision-making, not for quite some time anyway, even better, if we do join, the UK would have to sign up to everything, the Euro, no op-outs.
The way Brexit was handled could backfire in so many ways because too many promises were made that can't be kept and the public is turning on Brexit now, the UK could end up finding it's self with a worse deal in the EU then what we had as an EU member and it's all thanks to the Brexiteers lol.
In any case, if public supports keeps going up for rejoining the EU, there is nothing you or me can do to stop that and ironically, the EU is the only one that could stop that, in any case, it suggests the UK will rejoin the EU a decade or so from now once the reality of being out isn't any greener or in fact, is much worse.
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Nspnspker True and I think in the long run, the EU will open up to other countries from around the world on membership, just for the time being, there is a lot of countries from eastern Europe that want to join so there is no need for the EU to open up just yet, personally, I think the EU should open up now, with the US becoming unstable and less reliable and China becoming more powerful, many might be tempted by EU membership with how the world is going.
As for Canada, they've been reducing their trade dependence on the US the last few decades and have just signed a free trade deal with the EU, throw in the bad terms Canada got on NAFTA, Canada has every reason to diversify trade away from the US and the EU is likely thier best option on that.
Yeah I saw that video about CANZUK, I was putting out many blames and dreams on the message board there lol, it had all the hallmarks of a racist union to me and would never work because all the countries are spread too thin around the world, not to mention that the only real thing they have in common is language and with the UK trying to go it's own way away from the EU and they would be the biggest of the members in that union, I don't see what incentive those other countries would have when the UK would likely try to bully the others.
You know it's bad for Brexit UK when they are already looking for a alternative like the CANZUK and the Commonwealth, it suggests the UK can't go it alone like some think and looking at how things are with the UK and the US, Japan, India, China and the EU, it doesn't look good for the UK.
Canada, Australia and Japan are too dependent on the US and the US takes full advantage of that, if these countries were smart, they would get closer to the EU as the only other big western power that can stand up to the US, that way those countries would have more options and would be much harder for the US to bully them and as it is, the UK is next on the bully list with the US, it's that so called special relationship doing it's thing lol.
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@rcn9910 Really, I'm sure you said the EU would fall or that the Euro would fall, wanting something to happen and it happening are two very different things, why do you think the UK could never get any help from any EU country on Brexit? because there is UK euroseptics and European euroseptics, both are very different from each other, the UK ones want the EU project to die, the European ones want to reform it, that's why the UK deludes it's self.
In any case, polls are showing 57% of Brits want to rejoin the EU, this is before we have even fully left the EU to feel the real impact of it and this is before the pandemic hardship kicks in, that number is very likely going to go up over the coming year, 57% and creeping up, Brexiteers should be very worried about that because the number has never been that high and even with margins of errors on polls, they don't get it wrong by that kind of margin, in other words, it looks very likely that if another vote to join the EU was to happen, we would very likely join it.
If that number keeps rising to the next election, expect Labour to fight that election on rejoining the EU, knowing the Tories can't do that, there is a big reason why fanatics like you don't want another vote on that because you know how it would go.
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@bumblebee5818 What's that got to do with the price of eggs? lol, that isn't stopping many countries from wanting to join and as for Norway, they will likely want in once oil dries up, that keeps them safe for now but living standards there will drop once that dries up, as for Iceland, they are too small to really matter but there is a fair chance they will join at some point, as for Switzerland, they have been lucky for now because of their location so they've managed to get good terms out of the EU because of trade that goes through them to countries like Italy, the EU is getting tougher on Switzerland because they can work around much of that now, in other words, Switzerland have had an easy rise from the EU and now that is coming to an end, hence the anger from Swizerland but they must have known that was never going to last.
Beside, those countries above are already more or less EU members in a lot of way, probably more so then what the UK was when they were in the EU because of all the op-outs the UK had, for those countries above, they are getting a raw deal, having to abide a lot of EU laws, rules and regulations without having any real say in them, the UK could be next on that, being a member for them would give them some say but I suspect for the EU, they like the way things are.
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@Tony IN SOUTHWARK The EU doesn't want an empire as such, the EU wants to protect European standards from workers rights, food standards, social system and all that, without the EU, that would be much harder to do because the US and others will pick them off one by one as it looks like the US is trying with Brexit UK lol, lets see what the UK has to give to get any kind of deal with the US lol and they are only part of it, Japan, China, India are also gunning for the UK now lol, don't expect any help from the EU, they'll be quite happy to let the UK be taken advantage off by the others so the message sink in, basically, those countries are going to wipe out the Brexit movement and push the UK back into the EU, signs are already showing that with polls showing 57% of the British public wants to rejoin the EU, we've not even fully left yet lol.
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@Tony IN SOUTHWARK They survive because they don't make any waves around the world, they are too small to matter and are told what they can and can't do by others, besides, you do realize that Iceland abides by a lot of EU laws, rules and regulations? they are more or less an EU member without any real say, probably more so than the UK was when they were in lol.
Now if the UK is quite happy to be a nobody on the outside then fine but that will be a bitter pill to swallow for a lot of Brits considering the history, basically, the signs are already showing the UK is becoming weaker and you only have to see how Japan, India, the US, China are treating the UK.
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@bumblebee5818 Actually, it's not Switzerland that wants to reduce its involvement in the EU, it's the EU changing the terms because the terms Switzerland have are too good and too messy of a deal, they want to simplify it to a single deal, that's why Switzerland is worried because those terms are likely going to be worse.
Basically, Switzerland got really good terms out of the EU because of its location when it comes to trade with other EU members, now the EU are finding ways to bypass that and that's got Switzerland worried because that generates a lot of wealth for Switzerland, still, they can always join the EU and have all those benefits plus more but in the meantime, let them have their tantrums, they've had it easy for too long now.
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@Tony IN SOUTHWARK Really, go on then, spill the beans on these ambitions, as for those other countries you mentioned, you do realize that they all want to join the EU, that gives the EU a lot of clout over them if they really want in the EU, that's quite normal but those countries are free to walk away into Russia's hands, see how well that goes for them.
As for rights, then why does the EU countries have some of the highest standards in countless things? Also, have you wondered the reason the UK wanted to leave, they come up with the excuse that they want higher standards but the EU never stopped any member having higher standards, they set a standard and all members have to match that or be higher than that but can't be lower than that, it's very likely the UK government wants to lower standards and it will be the British people that will pay the price if that happens.
Also, have you ever wondered why the US keeps trying to get the EU to lower rights, food standards and all that? They are doing exactly that to the UK and in the case of the UK, the US will likely win because the UK is desperate to sign a deal with them, basically, the US demands the UK lower food standards in such a way that the British people won't know which food is worse standards, then there is the NHS which they want access too, clearly not for the benefits of the UK, how about workers rights? The list goes on and on, this is what lobby groups in the US are demanding of the UK and what Trump wants, a trade deal would be so one sided in favour of the US that you have to wonder why the UK would sign it but the UK is desperate and needs to show it can sign any deals even bad ones.
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@Tony IN SOUTHWARK I think you are clutching at straws, there are many signs already that the UK is already being ignored on the world stage thanks to Brexit, that is likely going to get worse, besides, none of the other Europeans want what the UK is trying to sell, after all, the UK tried hard to get EU members onside with Brexit, they didn't get a single member onside, the fact is, the EU is by far the bigger market, that is what they all want and they are not going to get on the wrong side of the EU just to suck up to a declining UK, they are not that stupid.
As for Financial Services, it's a house of cards that's built on nothing and beside, more of that is shifting out of the UK now, the question is where will it go too, many countries are fighting for some of that pie.
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Nspnspker That won't do the west any favours, say the government gets toppled and they become a democracy, that is far bigger of a threat to the US and EU then the government they have bow because if they are a democracy, they will have a lot more trust, a lot more investment in the country and the economy would boom even more than they do now, the US doesn't fear the government of China, they fear the economy of China regardless of what type of government they have and we know this because of actions the US tried to do to Japan in the 80's and to the EU in the 90's to now.
I think for Canada, single market and custom union access would be more attainable for now, full membership is always a possible but unless the EU opens up on that, it won't happen.
The thing is, there are many countries around the world that would be a good fit for EU membership but the EU isn't ready for that just yet, there is still a lot from Eastern Europe that want to join the EU but after they swallow up a lot of that, it wouldn't surprise me if the EU opens up to countries around the world, it would have an impressive record on the results it's done with the existing countries that many would likely be interested, especially with how things are going with the US and China.
Russia is a good match for the EU once they get over their power games, Russians are not really that different from Europeans overall, I think what will do it for Russia is the pressure from China on Russia, that will likely push Russian into the EU, especially once oil, gas and other natural resources have less value.
What a lot of countries should be scared about the most is China, if they become a modern country and all the signs are pointing in that direction, it would be an economy 4 times bigger than the US or two EU's and 2 US's all put together, no chance could the west compete with that without a lot of changes, the EU has the best option in expending the EU, the US seems to be in decline, in the longer run, the EU could actually be the real threat to China, not the US, depending on how much they expand and integrate.
In any case, it looks like other unions are forming around the world but a lot of them are quite weak and most are just economic in nature, they will need political oversight if they are to become anything.
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@s13hgp It's a special case for Scotland and Northern Ireland, they voted to stay in the EU and are being pulled out against their will, that gives them a lot more clout in pushing for independence from the UK, even more so with how bad the UK government is dealing with this pandemic, it's another sign of why independence for them could be a good thing.
As for Catalan and all that, it's a different case and that is a weak argument to try and keep Scotland in, either way, that doesn't work and even if the like of Catalan and others do want independence, sooner or later they will likely get it regardless of what those countries say about it.
Your argument is weak, you are suggesting that Scotland can't leave because others small regions might do the same, what a weak argument and I suggest you go back to school because your IQ seems to be really low.
Basically, if Scotland leaves, it's going to happen regardless of what Spain says or what the Catalan region does, so go back to school you thicko.
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@s13hgp OK calm down lol, as you well know, there wasn't a vote from the public, at least not in the UK on the common market and European Union formation as it was left to the government to decide, you know, the ones that are supposed to represent our interest, at least that's how the system is supposed to work, basically, the UK doesn't live under a direct democracy and is a repensentive democracy.
As for Norway and Iceland, no they are not EU members but they might as well be because they are more integrated in the EU than the UK every was which is ironic considering the UK was an EU member but then with all the op-outs the UK had, we might as well not be.
Scotland could use whatever currency they want, chances are they'll use the pound in the short term whiles they decide what to do on either having their own currency or joining the Euro which if they want to join the EU, the Euro would be part of that as there won't be any op-outs, in any case, countries can use currencies they are not supposed to do, some countries that are not in the Euro Zone use the Euros for instance so Scotland would very likely use the pound as they do now, there isn't much the UK government could do about it and there's no real reason for them to do anything about it with all the trade flowing both ways.
As for why the UK should rejoin the EU, maybe because that's what the British people want, polls have consistently shown support for staying in the EU and the latest polls show support of around 57% wanting to rejoin the EU, that isn't a small margin and it's unlikely to be wrong with that kind of margin.
As for Scotland and Northern Ireland, if both countries did leave, that would reduce the land mass of the UK by about 45%, it would reduce the population by 7 million and would reduce the economy by 250 billion, I highly doubt most in the UK or the government would want to lose that, especially because it would be quite humiliating for the UK, the term little Englander would actually have real meaning then and Brexit would look like a disaster is that was to happen.
The truth is, which way Scotland and Northern Ireland goes really depends on how well Brexit goes and how much money and resources the UK government spends in those regions but the odds are looking that Scotland could leave over the next 5 to 10 years or sooner with Northern Ireland following afterwords, the mess on Brexit and the pandemic is throwing more fuel on the fire, also throw in that Scotland and Northern Ireland do quite poor in the UK union compared to other western EU members of around the same size and you have to wonder why they would want to stay when others are showing more success, especially with Northern Ireland that has a GDP per capita 3 times lower than the Republic of Ireland, it begs the question, what on earth is the UK union doing to them lol.
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@maxmolberg6290 Probably much sooner than our life times, likely over the next decade or two if they are not careful.
As for the EU, I think more pan-European politics is needed to create more interest from the people, the EU is democratic but it always feels too distance from the people and part of that is governments in EU members and some of the media not giving it enough coverage, that isn't really the EU's fault and more the fault of the members, after all, how undemocratic would national systems look if the people showed little interest in them?
As for Euro Bonds, you are mistaken, a lot of Europeans do support helping others out in times of need, the biggest problem is the ones getting the help learning from the mistakes so they don't ask for more help in a decade or so which is where the problem is on unity on that one.
European countries are very social, that means they like having a lot of government planning and strong social system on things like health care among other things, also, an economic union only works effectively with a political union oversighting it, otherwise the system wouldn't be fair and big players will always take advantage of smaller players.
Now the EU does need some changes, no doubt about it but not in the way you think it needs them, the good news is, this pandemic is opening up the doors for real change in Europe.
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@maxmolberg6290 Actually we can, that's been happening for thousands of years already, it just takes time and is happening regardless of the EU thanks to globalization and integration of the world economy, basically, in the EU countries, the real problem is that they've not created a kind of unity among the people over the members, pan-European politics, media and countless others things, things can change if they want it to do so but that takes time, for now, we're still living in a national bubble but that isn't going to serve our interest in the long run because we're too small compared to the big powers around the world.
That argument about not being a European people could easierlly be used on the US as they are mostly European, things can change quite quickly if needed, in many cases, we already have a lot of the same building blocks among Europeans in our social standards, rights, sports we like, cars we drive, health care, politics, tax system and so on, if we look closely, we're not as different from each other as some would like to think.
As for Euro Bonds, the main hurdle wasn't giving a helping hand to countries in need, the real problem was there not being any strings attached to it with fear that those countries that need the money will become wasteful with it and end up wanting more in the future, that was what the northern Europeans didn't want and I do agree with them, strings and reforms should be attached to that money.
That's pretty much how it works already through the EU with national governments working in co-operation with the EU to get things done that the members are less effective at doing, as for the UN and WTO, they are too much of a talking shop that get ignored on many of it's own rules, these organizations are great for what they are but they lack teeth to get things done, big players can ignore them at will without many issues and they do just that many times, if they want any real relevance in the world, they need some bigger teeth to get things done, the EU has that which makes it more effective than just a talking shop.
You could use the same argument about the US with red and blue states with blue states putting a lot more money into red states or you could use the same argument about the UK union, especially with Scotland and England, should these fall apart because there is some massive disagreements on both sides? What we are seeing in the EU is just politics, you're was never going to get everyone to get along with each other but if they can get most then it's worth doing.
If anything, a lot of the flaws in the EU and EU countries are because the EU lacks the power in many areas, a prime example of that is immigration, the EU zone could handle a lot of them if the people were spaced out among EU members but because each EU member is acting in it's own interest, too many end up in a few EU members, the real flaw is that more co-operation or more EU integration on those policies are needed, this is the case in many other areas as well where many of the problems are being done by national politics in areas where the EU has limited or no powers in.
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@SUTHRINGA Well I've read up the deal with the UK and Japan and it looks worse but it also looks like there wasn't much time to work on it because of Brexit so it looks as if they will renegotiate it at a future date, anyway, there are many articles online pointing in the areas where this deal is worse than the one the EU signed with Japan and it stands to reason, why would Japan make the same concessions to the UK that they did with the EU when the UK is a lot smaller, just common sense really.
As for Iceland, if you look at the way the world is developing, countries are grouping up together as that is the only way to compete with the big fish, smaller countries are not going to stand much of a change against the bigger fish in the long run so I suspect it's only a matter of time before the likes of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland joins the EU, the UK is also very likely rejoin but it will likely be as separate countries with Scotland and Northern Ireland braking away from the UK, in big part because I doubt the EU would let the UK in any time soon so the only way for Scotland and Northern Ireland to rejoin is by leaving the UK union and support seems to be growing on that one.
Anyway, I suggest you do more research.
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@xiyition This is the Tories we are talking about, when in history have they ever cared about the north-west?
More importantly, the economy is doing really bad thanks to Brexit and the pandemic, so money is going to be tight for at least 5 or 10 years and if you throw in all the noise from Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Tories are going to do what they do best which is to look after the south of England, they might help Scotland and Northern Ireland out more because of the threat of them leaving the UK union but as far as the northern part of England goes, they've already got their vote for the next 5 years and now they don't care, just look at that train service that was supposed to be going through the north, funny how they did cut backs on that, basically, they'll do it down south but not up north, that's the Tory MO.
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@M.Đ-z4u Norway and Switzerland actually do and as for them being rich, Norway is a small population with a lot of natural resources, hence why they are rich, they also have easy access to the EU market and as for Switzerland, well we all know about it's banking secrecy, something that if other bigger countries wanted could clamp down hard on them, they also have easy access to the EU market, hence why both countries contribute to the EU budget, with Norway it's a simple deal whereas with Switzerland, it's many messy deals that the EU wants to reform into one deal a bit like what Norway has got.
Either way, I suspect it's only a matter of time when Norway and Switzerland joins the EU with Norway likely as oil starts to dry up and Switzerland as countries around the world put the squeeze on the banking sector but I wouldn't worry, it's not going to be any time soon.
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