Pros and cons of the EU? And what is your opinion of it?

[GommeInc]

of course they aren't planning to remove common law.

and germans dont hate us and i dont hate the germans.

They do if we're clumped together like one, we don't want their laws and ideas and the same here in the UK. We're two different countries, not two different states or provinces as the EU suggests

[hah]

That makes it totally worth sabotaging our democracy so our laws can be made in Brussels by unelected individuals, not to forget the billions it costs us every year.

When you travel around much of the world you don't actually need to apply for Visas if you're a British passport holder, certainly not places you'd go on holiday anyway. For example you can go to the USA, Dubai, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil, Canada, Japan etc without a visa, and guess what, they're not in the EU.

I don't see why it's so great that the EU is the biggest economy in the world? It doesn't actually benefit us, what benefits us is living in the UK which contributes enormously to the EU being the biggest economy in the world. We were already easily one of the worlds largest economies before the EU and we still are today. There is a few things the EU is convenient for, some of which have been outlined in this thread, however these things are quite petty and can be done without being in the EU and aren't even worth what we have to give up to be in the EU. Switzerland and Norway aren't in the EU yet they seem to have a much higher GDP and seem to be doing much better than everyone else in the EU.

Wrong you need a visa to enter the USA and i only know this cause
http://www.tmz.com/2007/08/07/lily-a...ed-by-america/ + Amy whinehouses visa was rejected.

You also need a visa for turkey, but you just get of the plane and pay 20pounds to get a sticker that says visa

[Aces]

The EU is basically a peace project. All the European countries' economies are interconnected, so if one country lands in a conflict with another state then everyone's affected negatively which creates a common motive to resolve the conflict. Even other countries would have motive to help seeing as the Euro is very influential around the world and it's collapse would cause a stir.

[ifuseekamy]

Free trade, travel etc. Other than that it's like Big Brother or something which I can only assume is the direction it's heading.

[The Don]

The con's really outweigh the pro's, don't they?

[Jordy]

Wrong you need a visa to enter the USA and i only know this cause
http://www.tmz.com/2007/08/07/lily-a...ed-by-america/ + Amy whinehouses visa was rejected.

You also need a visa for turkey, but you just get of the plane and pay 20pounds to get a sticker that says visa

Yeah but the point being you don't have to apply beforehand for them so there's no real hassle. As for Lily Allen she was working in the US which is different.

The EU is basically a peace project. All the European countries' economies are interconnected, so if one country lands in a conflict with another state then everyone's affected negatively which creates a common motive to resolve the conflict. Even other countries would have motive to help seeing as the Euro is very influential around the world and it's collapse would cause a stir.

It's not a peace project at all, NATO is a peace project. Thankfully the EU doesn't intervene in foreign or military affairs (yet) so it hasn't made a difference in stopping wars etc.

[Inseriousity.]

Can I just ask how long we've been in the EU for?

[alexxxxx]

Can I just ask how long we've been in the EU for?

since 1973, although back then it wasn't really the same thing as it is now.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I have no experience of this and i'm sure it's only in certain areas of the country.

Yes it is only in certain areas of the country and its damn well wrong, so think of that and the people who live in those areas next time [regarding the Burka debate].

Everyone will do it on their terms, there will be very little agreement and therefore it will hurt everyone. We should all compromise .

The government should do what is best for the British people and Britain, not what is best for the German people. If government ever fails in this then government is not doing its job.

It will reduce costs for business.

Reduce costs for business when piling thousands of EU regulations on it per year? If the EU existed to remove regulations then fair dos to that argument, but as it stands that is a very poor case.

Free at point of use obviously.

So hang on, instead of giving the EU billions per year (along with the costs to business with over-regulation) why not just keep the money in the first place and spend that money here where it belongs. Why should British taxpayers foot the bill for motorways in the Czech Republic, public sewers in Budapest when our tax bills are rising and our schools are crumbling and now are not being replaced?

This has nothing to do with what i'm talking about. I'm talking about our authorities having no power to search offices in berlin, warsaw etc.

Our authorities have no legal right to search offices in Berlin or in any other country apart from the United Kingdom, I always had the impression you were against colonialism by the British on other nations but now it seems you do not really mind at all when sovereignty is trampled upon. If we have reason to suspect something in Berlin, we go to the German police force and present the evidence to them - if they think there is case for arrest under German law then they make that arrest/search them offices.

Regulation always puts costs on business because that's what it's there for. It's for correcting wrongs and for protecting workers and consumers. Any UK regulation would have comparable costs and if having to make goods or providing services to different sets of regulations will either hurt competition or increase costs to the consumer more than this.

There reaches a point where you have too many laws/regulations, one example would be the last decade under the Labour government. If we removed the thousands of laws they [and the EU] implemented over that decade, would anybody really notice anything different? no they would not, the only difference made would be UK business becoming more competitive.

I doubt we even enforce half of our laws as it stands, so why are we messing about with pointless EU regulation such as what the definition of a pig (you know, the pink animal with the twirly tail?) is?

This is a stupid reason. Just have a standard with numbers so when someone looks at it they know what names the family name, what the issue date, the restrictions on the driver and the like without costing the user more money.

Why and how would this cost British drivers more money? Most people in this country do not drive across Europe and the ones that do will do it about once a year, so why should everyone foot the bill for a minority over such a daft and non-issue? they shouldn't.

So you think no one has ever had to go to the hospital abroad. My mum has. My friends mum was constantly in a foreign hospital for almost the entirety of her holiday due to blood poisoning. No charge whatsoever. Why put people in a situation abroad where people can't afford to pay for care on the spot (insurance isn't instantaneous).

Because you then have people coming here to the UK for specialist care which many other nations (such as Eastern Europe) do not have.

The EU is accountable through our national government. Every time you vote for any of the main 3 parties you are voting for the EU

The European Union is not accountable at all to the British people or any other people across Europe. The main parties ah yes, well theres not much we can do bearing in mind the voting system - more to the point everytime they are in opposition they all pretend to be tough on the European Union 'no more powers to Europe' they all shout. Our politicians are not being truthful what this is about, a federal Europe. I proved it to you with numerous quotes and you still deny it as though its some crackpot conspiracy. Well i'd put it to you that the only crackpots are the ones coming out with this stuff.

The reason why the European Union can never democratise is because a euro-sceptic would be elected, simple as that.

What. With itself? It can work out cross-border strategies without involving consultation with anyone else?

No, government works out the treaties with other elected governments and then the parliaments of those countries ratify and pass the acts into law (or the people preferably). Even if the EU were to exist to work these things out then i'd be fine with it, provided it does not cross into social, economic and political areas - something which it does now.

Maybe in the past yes. Everyone uses metric units. But i don't know what a quart is. I don't even know what a pound is. I don't know what a fluid oz is. Colloquial usage of distances and volume is alright but i'm sorry imperial is the stupidest thing ever. 1760 yards in a mile, 3 feet in a yard, 12 inches in a foot. SI units and metric units are the best. Inter-changable, international, easy to understand. 1 kg of water = 1 litre. It sounds to me you're against the usage of international standard units because it's a bit european.

The imperial system is the real system, the metric system was dreamed up by Naploean and his pencil pushers. The imperial system developed through time, you may not know all measurements but I very much doubt most people today know (including the metric system). The fact that you are young and do not know our own measurement system because the European Union wishes to eradicate it is very sad indeed.

I have no problem with what the Europeans use or wish to use, but I want to use the British measurement system. If people want a change then put it to them, dont go doing it behind their backs via stealth.

Why should national governments waste money on similar or identical projects taken up in other countries, where less money could be spent with co-operation, also utilising the best people from everywhere in europe.

It costs more money to create another organisation. Between two nations you have the two governments talking about it, with the European Union you have the EU and the two governments - which means more costs. You might aswell just abolish government here and across Europe and just allow the EU to take over, thats what you want personally anyway isn't it?

You don't half go on with PC talk, 'ultilising the best people from everywhere in Europe' what utter PC speak. It doesnt even mean anything just like them stupid questions in job interviews such as 'why do you want to become staff in such and such?'

A 'federal' europe, if you want to call it that, does not destroy the UK. I think criminal law should be almost all sorted out by national states but regulations and certain economic stratagies need to be driven by a larger body.

As a 'libertarian' you should be against big government, yet now it seems you are for it. I'm sorry but a federal Europe does destroy the United Kingdom just as the United States destroyed the Republic of Texas and so on. You now admit a federal Europe is being built? yes?

Well yes, in that respect. But in UK courts we have common law and that won't change.

Common law can still exist but doesnt have to matter anymore as EU law and courts are supreme to it, meaning common law doesnt matter at all anymore. So common law has changed and its being eroded, fast.