The EU? Where to next....

Mapsis

What exactly is the EU now??
I believe the EU was the right idea way back at its inception.....but would there be any validity in now saying that the EU is really just Germany & France (and to a smaller degree, the low countries) trying to gain control of the governance and natural resources of countires who are affectively up sh*t creek. Waiting with their mouths open for the food to come to them.

My reason for this is because I dont see the EU going out of its way to get NORWAY to join the EU, or Monaco or Switzerland or Iceland.....but look, at the countries who join the EU.
Ireland in the early 70's.....Sweden and Finaldn during their 90's recessions and now Iceland....and of course all the Eastern block countries.

Why is the EU just a basket case for countries in difficulty?

I think this all points to one thing. Countries wanting a slice of the "good life" or help and re prepred in the long run to give over control to Germany.

I'm not anti-europe in any way. I love the fact I can go to Italy and not carry around a million Lira for a packet of tayto and a ham sandwich in venice..................on a serious note I love that ireland has been diversified (even though we're still the most backward of places- a czech pub in temple bar isnt real diversification lads).....

...but essentially, the EU is a basket case and the germans and french want overall control?!

If I'm waffling jeez let me know but this has been on my mind lately with more countries getting the euro currency....which again is a weight around the neck of these countries over the medium-long term as the "easy credit on a larger currency" loses its appeal when ya cant pay it back

dan_d

I've been wondering this for a while.

I'm not sure what the EU is now....in terms of the overall concept it was a good one.And it has achieved a lot. If nothing else (for all the cynics out there), I believe it's a large part of the reason (if not THE reason) there has been peace among the major European countries for such a long period of time.

I'm not quite sure I agree with your take on France and Germany. I think that, yes, they are the major players. There's a short piece here about how it came about, way back...
http://www.euractiv.com/en/general/european-peace-european-union/article-139215
It's funny that we rarely hear from the other countries involved. It's also a bit...odd..that the Germans tend to take a very hardline response to everything, and the French, in some odd way, act like a buffer in the middle - placating where necessary, or siding with them, depending on the subject.

My vague memories of history tell me that Switzerland was agreed to be a neutral power, it was viewed as the "sensible" thing to do. There's a piece here (apologies the source is Wikipedia...) regarding their EU membership.

In 2002 Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations, leaving the Vatican as the last widely recognised state without full UN membership. Switzerland is a founding member of the EFTA, but is not a member of the European Economic Area. An application for membership in the European Union was sent in May 1992, but not advanced since the EEA was rejected in December 1992[25] when Switzerland was the only country to launch a referendum on the EEA. There have since been several referenda on the EU issue; due to a mixed reaction from the population the membership application has been frozen. Nonetheless, Swiss law is gradually being adjusted to conform with that of the EU, and the government has signed a number of bilateral agreements with the European Union. Switzerland, together with Liechtenstein, has been completely surrounded by the EU since Austria's membership in 1995. On 5 June 2005, Swiss voters agreed by a 55% majority to join the Schengen treaty, a result that was regarded by EU commentators as a sign of support by Switzerland, a country that is traditionally perceived as independent and reluctant to enter supranational bodies.[23]

As to where the whole thing is going, I'm not sure. Obviously, the former Eastern Bloc countries are clamouring to be members....they see all the money swilling around, I suppose. And the EU couldn't really be seen to refuse them - but then again, if it's a way to extend peace around Europe, then I suppose it should be commended.

There's no 2 ways though, that the current regime/set up of the EU needs to be drastically altered. It's become much, much bigger than probably was ever envisaged, and I don't think the existing system is appropriate for what it's becoming.

(I should say here that I am an avid supporter of the European concept, especially for our somewhat insular little country. The more exposure we have to the ways that other countries do business, the better, to my mind)