Non
So, the whole of Europe is waiting for the French vote to determine their own futures. Eyes of the world peer at the French and their world view.
By voting yes as the rest of Europe wants, we move on, all is well in the world, democracy, viva la france, viva la revolution.
The French are a noble peoples, their vote for international unification can surely be counted on, right? yes? right?
slight problem
If there's anything you can count of the French, it's to do the opposite of what the rest of the world wants.
Quite funny that people never expected this, do they not watch telly/read newspapers/listen to the radio?
posted by Robo @ 7:16 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Shut it yank. Your probably pro europe so we can have a united states over here as well. :)
Seriously, I was pro europe, but recently, I've been, as the times were, a-changing.
I don't think its a good idea to let someone in brussels manage our economy/interest rates/tax/working hours all for the benefit of 'europe', and I don't like the idea of a european super state. The amount of money we piss down the drain on the EU is staggering.
P.S. France still owe us compensation for the foot and mouth crisis.
Totally anti-europe. There's a few beer political meetings I've had in a few pubs over here and I've had to explain time and time again that europe will never get it's act together for many reasons.
1)We hate each other, there's too much bad blood we can't forget (just don't mention the war)
2)Differing laws, inequal taxes/wages. Anything that shows difference between states isn't going to be liked
3)England still has veto and there's too much to lose giving that away.
4)England's HUGE pension funds are being looked at eagerly by the rest of Europe (who's having problems with their pension plans, most are beyond bankrupt)
5)The most obvious, language.
6)The French are involved
I have to explain that it might appear we get along, but the moment something happens, all the usual insults get hurled about (Berlusconi's first speach drawing comparisons of the German representative to a German SS Commandant went down like a lead ballon 'Oh yeah? in that case we'll boycott coming to Italy on our holidays then, see how your economy likes that' 'Great! that means there'll be more deckchairs for the rest of us' I kid you not, all said, look it up.
An argument I had when back in England with someone was when they said;
"it'll be wonderfull, we'll get the best of both worlds, the quality of the germans, the food of the french, the art of Belgium, the pot of Amsterdam" to which I said "is it more likely we'll end up with the best of Europe, or the lowest common denominator, the food of the Germans, the work ethic of the Italians, the spanish toilets, the attitudes of French waiters..." I know which one I'll be more likely to expect to happen.
1)I disagree. Europe has had a lot of wars over the years and now we're beginning to realise that it doesn't actually work really. Diplomacy rather than war war war is our way forward.
2) Agree completely. What taxes/laws we have aren't necessarily good for what Finland does, and its foolish to think otherwise.
3) The UK was one of the founders of the EU/EEC or whatever it was called then.
4) Ha ha. I remember a business law teacher who hated the EU or integration. He said that Germany tried to invade twice, and now they're doing it by the backdoor. :) Having said that, I think the bundesbank operates half of the LSE, Liffe is owned by a Paris company, and at the start of this year, the BB started talks to buy LSE. Maybe its too late?
5) Why has language got to do with the EU? Do you think once we'll join veel all haf to speaken mine Spanish?
6) Again, one of the reasons for french going 'oh hee oh he on..NON' was that the proposal was too 'anglo-centric'.
I was pro europe. "They" had better schools, trains, hospitals etc. and the european court of human rights was one of the jewels. But now they're dictating our working hours and its just not right.
Having said that, if its a choice between siding with france+germany, or siding with america, I'll be eating bratwursts and wearing berets quicker than you can say 'dubya'.
Anyway, there was a joke around this a while ago:
Heaven is where the Swiss run the railways, the English are the police, the French make the food, the Italians are the lovers and the Germans make the cars. In hell, the Swiss are the lovers, the English make the food, the French make the cars, the Italians run the railways and the Germans are the police.
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