I was actually a supporter of EU Membership until maybe 10 years ago. It made sense.Customs Union , easier trading, more uniform policies, even though I thought EU Farming and Fisheries policy were unfair to the UK and wastful sometimes. Nothing is perfect but I was in .
The change seemed to be with a voracious appetite of the senior few, to absorb more and more Countries as fast as possible, even with very dubious economic status.
The stronger Countries ( if you take the main 10 or so , could subsidise the slightly weaker ones to help them recover and economies would have been on a more equal basis long term.
It is hard enough for us to agree here !,imagine 27 different cultures, economic strengths. religions, national identities, political views,pension rules,lifestylesâŚtrying to agree a common policy. There is not a âone for allâ solution.
Forcing austerity on some to try and catch up was unrealistic I think.
I have no desire to see the EU fail but unless they contract or drastically change course , I am pessimistic.
When the currency was being curated, Italy was amongst the richest countries in Europe with one of the strongest industries in the world. It wasnât until the crisis that things went down to shit. They couldnât have seen that.
When Ireland joined there wasnât even an EU to join. The circumstances were different. Also, I think you know the reason why Ireland is that much above EU average is because of Apple using it as a tax haven. The GDP soared by 30% in one year because of that, otherwise it wouldâve remained in line with other W. European countries.
Also, when Ireland joined in the 70s, even though it was poorer than other W. European countries, on the global scale it was still a rich country. The same cannot be said about most of E. European countries.
First of all I donât like it too that Germany takes the majority of refugees.
It was a terrible mistake Mrs. Merkel taking a selfie picture with a refugee publishing this world-wide.
But I like to remind you on the situation 3 years ago. People got stuck in Budapest, almost got imprisoned at the train station.
Refugees were walking on the highway, next to train-tracks, alongside with children/babies.
Hungarian Orban promised those refugees to organise buses to bring them to the border but instead he brought them somewhere else.
This really reminds me on dark times we all certainly dont want to have again ever forever.
The pressure was that high. And nobody except Germany/Austria did anything.
But I agree, then the mistake was NOT to communicate that this was an exceptional situation plus that stupid selfie picture âŚ
Although Germany has had the most asylum applications in 2015, Hungary had the highest in proportion to its population, despite having closed its border with Croatia in an attempt to stop the flow in October. Nearly 1,800 refugees per 100,000 of Hungaryâs local population claimed asylum in 2015. Sweden followed close behind with 1,667 per 100,000. The figure for Germany was 587 and for the UK it was 60 applications for every 100,000 residents. The EU average was 260.
That is why Hungary may have been slightly peeved.
During the last few years theyâve been promoting the concept of âEuropean identityââŚlike youâre not Dutch, Spanish, French of whateverâŚyouâre European! And all European people share the same culture and values!
Which is absolutely nonsense, considering that even within each country there are dozens of different cultures.
Interesting to get a German point of view. Those dark times seem to drive Germany into trying harder to make up for them. Those times are past and I donât think Gerrmany is willing or capable to let it happen again. Donât punish yourselves with this.
You can only do what is possible and reasonable to help , but other places are not as compassionate and care more about their way of life âŚand that is also acceptable , though arguably less moral.
Moving between European countries has always been very easy even long before the EU. The main difference is that pre-EU it was mainly skilled people with university degrees who had more opportunities abroad. Now with non-skilled workers being allowed to travel everywhere you get people from low-wage countries moving to higher-wage countries, saturating the workforce and keeping salaries in a stagnant situation.
Part of the free-move argument was ideological (âYay, weâre all friends, thereâs space for everybody, everywhere!â), part of it was to redistribute the workforce (this one less publicly explained because it screwed low-wage workers in many countries).
Thatâs cool, but too explicit for this forum. I mean, we all know what language exchanges are about, but⌠that kind of language is too explicit man.
Iâm from the UK. I voted to remain in the EU, but thatâs only because I was worried about the chaos of leaving abruptly and allowing radical right-wing elements of the Conservative Party (those who pressured Cameron into agreeing to the EU referendum in the first place) to dictate the terms of leaving and, no doubt, tear up all the human rights and labour laws that weâre obligated to abide by as EU members. In a real democracy, we would have the right to vote about whether or not to stay in the EU and on the terms of leaving (or, at the very least, voting for a representative to do so on our behalf). I donât like the European Union, but I like giving the Conservative Party free reign over UK laws even less.
They shouldnât have opened up the labour market so quickly to the new eastern European members with massive populations . But it was the UK choice (and a couple of others to do that) not the EU!
However a lot of that is in the rear view mirror , the irony is mass migration peak is over already from places like Poland. Poland is a huge EU success story .
Youâll find more people in the EU who appreciate the benefits than the negatives.
Parliament adopted the seventh amendment to the Basic Law at the initiative of the government on Wednesday. The fundamental obligation of the state to protect the countryâs constitutional identity and Christian culture, and to prevent the settlement of a foreign population in Hungary was enshrined in the constitution. According to the adopted Stop Soros Act, the promotion and support of illegal immigration will be criminal offenses under the law.
The passage of the âStop Sorosâ Act states:
It is against the law and punishable with a prison sentence to facilitate and support illegal immigration with organizing activities in order to allow the initiation of an asylum procedure in Hungary for a person who is not subject to persecution in his or her country of origin or in the country he or she transited to arrive in Hungary.
Organizing activities may also aim to obtain a residence permit for unauthorized entry. If a more serious offense is not committed, it is a misdemeanor, and these acts are punishable by closing down [the organization].
However, those who provide financial means for the commission of these offenses or carry out organizing activities on a regular basis shall be punished by imprisonment for up to one year.
