Is this the end of the "special relationship" ?

originally posted by: ForteanOrg

Apart from the question if that policy is a joke - I never studied it - similar "jokes" can be found in the UK too. From the horses mouth... So, in all cases, brexit or not, you need to continue battling ignorance and corruption.

The difference here is, it is a lot easier for a British citizen to effect change or clear out corruption in London than it is to try to do it in Brussels. When you add another agency and another level to one's government, a level of federalization, for lack of a better term, it becomes impossible. I live in a federalized country. And it is impossible to root out corruption in D.C. It tends to be more successful at the state level.

.. like the UK? I believe it's one of the members that has chosen to ignore many agreements we made in the EU. Euro? No. Drive on proper side of road? No. Free border crossing for EU citizens? No.

Why not? Everyone else gets to.

And regarding switching to the Euro...after what's happened the last 10 years economically both in the Eurozone and beyond, keeping the pound was one of the smartest things they did.

Driving on the other side of the road? They live on an island. Plus, it's the side of the road everyone was driving on in the first place. For some reason, people switched.


Trading with India is very expensive, due to the long distances. Also, though the Brits have been there for a long time, the cultural differences between India and the UK are WAY bigger than these between say Germany and the UK. Actually, as I pointed out before, the Germans and the Brits share a common bloodline and that's much stronger than the bonde between India and the UK.

It's like I tell my family, blood don't equal squat. Cultural differences aside, India has a lot of potential to make up for the expense.

I'm all in favour of battling corruption. And as I wrote before, I'm not a "Big Fan" of the current EU either, but given a choice, I'd stay in. Too many advantages.

And that's fine. However, A lot of Brits seem to want to leave the EU, for one reason or another, and I personally understand why. I'd be voting the same way if I was British.

Years ago, I used to actually think the E.U. was a very good idea. Since the cold war ended, NATO became redundant, and I felt a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces and Unified Europe combining resources to form their own common defense league was the best course for everyone. A unified Europe drastically reduced the possibility of another major devastating war, and the U.S. getting dragged in again. A common currency sounded like a very efficient system in a continent with so many nations packed into suck a relatively small area.

And then I actually lived in the EU. And experience and observation changed my mind.

originally posted by: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
And then I actually lived in the EU. And experience and observation changed my mind.

A rather meaningless statement, perhaps you could give some examples of what you observed and experienced?

Now, about the Euro - inflation of the Euro now is nill, and it has steadily been falling as of 2012. The pound still is inflating though, hence the €/£ ratio has mostly gone down this year (and currently is falling again, after a slight upturn). So, you get less pound for an Euro - the Euro is the stronger of the two.

And your observations - I hope you will share them - probably differ from mine as I'm quite positive about the EU in the context of how they help us here.

• enjoy being able to travel freely to say German, do some shopping there, be able to pay with euro's and bring back my stuff without having to pay taxes or whatever;
  
• in my region I don't see much meddling of the EU in our local affairs. And I really can't underwrite your observations about being able to influence local politicians better either, at least my municipality excels in making stupid decisions that aren't supported by the people here, no matter how loud we howl - they simply do as they please, stubborn and unwiling to admit their failures;
  
• The EU (co)finances some major projects supported by the EU here, which is of great importance because I live in a rather poor part of the country, and it really helps.
  

So, all in all, not too bad. Sure, you need to battle corruption - but that's not typical for the EU..

So, what are you referring to - what are your observations about the influence of the EU on your daily life?

Like American business takes any notice of what the president says! Investment flows both ways across the pond, America owns about a quarter of the British economy, which is the fifth largest in the world, and Obuma says Brits are going to the back of the que?