Brits and EU

[Christian]

Should they stay or should they go now?!

 

[Amsterhammer]

Go, in the name of God and all that is holy, go now and stay the **** away for ever.

When Scotland eventually becomes independent, they can join up.

 

[El Pistolero]

Go, they're just in the way anyhow.

 

[oldborn]

Go and take Croatia with you, please. We are the only losers who are joining this useless and hypocrite union of rich eu **** suckers at this moment.
Jesus Christ they even slow down Serbia cos Kosovo (not I like them too much, in fact I hate them) which has always been Serbia.
Bunch of polyglote thieves

 

[Kvinto]

i guess this poll would have been much more representative with the option "don't care"

 

[Tank Engine]

Go, in the name of God and all that is holy, go now and stay the **** away for ever.

When Scotland eventually becomes independent, they can join up.

Well I'm in the EU and I'm staying here

 

[Amsterhammer]

Well I'm in the EU and I'm staying here

You're Irish, and therefore irrelevant to this topic.

 

[Le breton]

Should they stay or should they go now?!

There are 2 possible answers : STAY or GO.
How can you possibly answer yes OR no to that question?

The EU would have done considerably more progress, politically, without the UK.

With the UK in tow, Europe can be compared with a cyclist trying to climb Galibier while pulling an elephant in a trailer.

PS : I just saw that the question actually is Should Brits leave the EU?

 

[Tank Engine]

You're Irish, and therefore irrelevant to this topic.

I'm definitely British

 

[Anonymous]

If we are to stay in the EU i believe we should go the whole hog and be part of the monetory union as well. If we arent going to do that we should just leave.

Ive long been in favour of britain joining the euro for a multitude of reasons. Sadly most of the old farts in this country think that the pound is in someway special.

 

[Amsterhammer]

I'm definitely British

I do beg your pardon.

Unless I was hallucinating, your location said 'Limerick' when I wrote that, leading me to the not unreasonable assumption that you were Irish! So, now you're a Brit and in Vienna.

If we are to stay in the EU i believe we should go the whole hog and be part of the monetory union as well. If we arent going to do that we should just leave.

Ive long been in favour of britain joining the euro for a multitude of reasons. Sadly most of the old farts in this country think that the pound is in someway special.

Totally agree, Dim. This has been my view for years.

 

[craig1985]

Would it make any difference to Britain being in the EU? Switzerland seem to be fine not being in the EU.

 

[El Pistolero]

Would it make any difference to Britain being in the EU? Switzerland seem to be fine not being in the EU.

But if the EU wanted to play it dirty they could seriously screw over Switzerland.

 

[Christian]

Would it make any difference to Britain being in the EU? Switzerland seem to be fine not being in the EU.

Switzerland was pretty screwed a couple of months ago because their money was at an all-time high. That way they got almost no business or tourism from their neighbouring countries since everything was much, much more expensive than in the EU. I think that was before the whole Euro crisis really picked up though so I don't know what the situation is right now

 

[craig1985]

I was reading an article on the BBC recently it was about that Britian not using the Euro, they haven't been able to go the same way as Ireland, Portugal, and Greece, as well as potentially Italy and Spain because they have control of their own currency and can set their own interest rates, which countries on the Euro can't do. The problem I see is that the struggling EU countries are obligated to do what France and Germany tell them when comes to cutting their spending and their debt levels, but none of it's citizens like being told what to do by a German or French politician.

 

[ramjambunath]

Would it make any difference to Britain being in the EU? Switzerland seem to be fine not being in the EU.

Switzerland have no problems for the foreseeable future. Our bent politicians alone could keep the country afloat.

 

[ramjambunath]

Cameron will be addressing the House of Commons on the EU summit at 3.30pm GMT. It's live on the BBC democracy website.

 

[Swifty's Cakes]

Britain does half its manufacturing export trade with the EU. If it leaves and finds its on the wrong side of all kinds ot trade barriers and tariffs then we'll be even more screwed than if we stay in a marginalised role.

Despite the understandable hostility from Germany and France towards callmedave for being so dog in the manger, they dont really want us to leave as we are one of only four net contributers to the EU budget and one of the others is Italy.

Behind the endless right-wing little englander rhetoric of the Mail and the Telegraph Britain and the EU need each other.

 

[ramjambunath]

One thing that Cameron's veto does is brings into notice- How much EU legislation is too much? Is it acceptable, on a purely domestic level, to accept such regulations which basically question the fiscal sovereignity of each of the member nations?

As for the Eurozone, it became crazy once it turned into a political amalgamation rather than an economic union. There's no economic sense to include Romania like countries into the same currency group as much more developed western European countries.

 

[ramjambunath]

The current discussions are marked by the conspicuous absence of Nick Clegg from his usual place at the Commons. Ed Miliband tore into Cameron with his questions. Others haven't been as successful

Alex Cunningham, Labour, wants to know what Mr Cameron will be doing on his days off when other EU leaders are working on the future of Europe. The prime minister says he will be trying to sort out "the mess" he inherited from the previous Labour government.

Miliband's aides say that he may not have signed the treaty himself but wouldn't have vetoed it so swiftly. David hasn't had as good a time in Parliament today as Ed and has been called naive by Cameron with regards to financial services, which could have been affected by this law coming into place.

I was reading an article on the BBC recently it was about that Britian not using the Euro, they haven't been able to go the same way as Ireland, Portugal, and Greece, as well as potentially Italy and Spain because they have control of their own currency and can set their own interest rates, which countries on the Euro can't do. The problem I see is that the struggling EU countries are obligated to do what France and Germany tell them when comes to cutting their spending and their debt levels, but none of it's citizens like being told what to do by a German or French politician.

One question that's born out of such a discussion is how much legislation from the EU is too much legislation? From a purely domestic point of view, it seems that such a law impedes on the fiscal sovereignty of a country and that should be one of the reasons for the unpopularity of these laws among the plebs of some of these countries.

 

[Christian]

I was reading an article on the BBC recently it was about that Britian not using the Euro, they haven't been able to go the same way as Ireland, Portugal, and Greece, as well as potentially Italy and Spain because they have control of their own currency and can set their own interest rates, which countries on the Euro can't do. The problem I see is that the struggling EU countries are obligated to do what France and Germany tell them when comes to cutting their spending and their debt levels, but none of it's citizens like being told what to do by a German or French politician.

The struggling EU countries are obligated to cutting their spending and debt levels because they have been spending money they didn't have for a decade... but I see what you mean no one likes to be told what to do

 

[Havetts]

Either you are completely in or you are completely out, ofcourse when you are able to meet the requirements of the Maastricht convention.

 

[Martin318is]

Britain does half its manufacturing export trade with the EU. If it leaves and finds its on the wrong side of all kinds ot trade barriers and tariffs then we'll be even more screwed than if we stay in a marginalised role.

Despite the understandable hostility from Germany and France towards callmedave for being so dog in the manger, they dont really want us to leave as we are one of only four net contributers to the EU budget and one of the others is Italy.

Behind the endless right-wing little englander rhetoric of the Mail and the Telegraph Britain and the EU need each other.

true - but does Britain need to be inside the EU for that benefit? Thats the question...

 

[Amsterhammer]

EU warns Britain: financial rules apply to you too

Commissioner Olli Rehn says City of London will still be subject to regulation from Brussels

The European commission underlined the negative impact of David Cameron's summit gambit by pledging that the City's financial institutions would be subject to new regulations hatched in Brussels.

Emphasising the EU's determination to dismiss Cameron's abortive attempt to secure exemptions for the City, Olli Rehn, the commission vice-president in charge of economic and monetary affairs, was scathing about the prime minister's campaign. This was rejected by the Brussels summit on Friday, triggering a British veto of German plans to anchor a new eurozone fiscal union in a renegotiated Lisbon treaty.

Cameron's move isolated Britain in Europe as seldom before, producing weekend headlines and comment across Europe that the UK was on the way out of the EU.

"We want a strong and constructive Britain in Europe, and we want Britain to be at the centre of Europe, and not on the sidelines," said Rehn. "If [Cameron's] move was intended to prevent bankers and financial corporations in the [City of London] from being regulated, that is not going to happen. We must all draw lessons from the financial crisis, and that goes for the financial sector as well."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/12/eu-warns-britain-financial-rules

....and Clegg refused to sit next to Cameron in Parliament today...pity that they'll never grow the cojones to hold a referendum on the basis of 'all the way in' or 'all the way out'.

 

[SirLes]

More to the point, what the hell are the Germans doing in the EU? They would be much better off on their own. Bring back the DM!