EU must develop 'appetite for power', Borrell says

[TheDark]

I wonder what EU's hunger of power should be? I think EU is doing just fine as it does at the moment. 

 

EU is able to use a lot of 'soft' economic power, to shape the world. Hey, we are no longer dependant of the Internet Explorer, are we. Nowadays pretty much all the websites work with any internet browser and no longer require using IE to function.

 

EU promotes work-life balance for its members. By doing this, EU workers have multiple rights and freedoms. With EU's financial power it can set sanctions aka refuse trade deals and impose tariffs with parties, who don't offer those same freedoms to their citizens. 

 

The list goes on. I think EU is using its powers in a good way. There is no reason to add power otherwise. It's enough to take care that nobody (Read: Russia) is not going to invade EU nations and otherwise simply use soft power to lead the way for the better. 

[luckyluke]

6 hours ago, TheDark said:

I think EU is doing just fine as it does at the moment. 

I not really know that.

I know they don't interfere in my daily life. 

And I read today in a Belgian media that the E.U. cost me (like every other  Belgian) 86 Euro yearly, the equivalent of +/- 250 ThB monthly. 

Something I can live with for having European Union on my passport. 

I suppose it will be more next year without the contribution of the U.K..

There seems to be a E.U meeting Thursday for the E.U. budget 2021-2027.

 

 

[luckyluke]

I appreciate you mention it is sad Nauseus, but there will be a price to pay by every European member of the E.U. once the U.K. stopped to pay his contributions.

I don't think Belgium will leave the E.U. soon, there is only one small party, on the Flemish side, which is pro leaving.

They also want to divide Belgium in a Flemish and Walloon state, and get rid of our king.

[BritManToo]

10 hours ago, TheDark said:

EU promotes work-life balance for its members. By doing this, EU workers have multiple rights and freedoms. With EU's financial power it can set sanctions aka refuse trade deals and impose tariffs with parties, who don't offer those same freedoms to their citizens. 

What a load of BS.

Nearly everything sold in the EU was made in China and other third world sweat shops.

[nauseus]

1 hour ago, luckyluke said:

I appreciate you mention it is sad Nauseus, but there will be a price to pay by every European member of the E.U. once the U.K. stopped to pay his contributions.

I don't think Belgium will leave the E.U. soon, there is only one small party, on the Flemish side, which is pro leaving.

They also want to divide Belgium in a Flemish and Walloon state, and get rid of our king.

I meant that it is sad that you don't know how they interfere in your daily life. 

[TheDark]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

What a load of BS.

Nearly everything sold in the EU was made in China and other third world sweat shops.

There is the essential difference between 'sold' and 'made'.

 

As almost everything is nowadays made in China, it's quite essential to have a powerful economical block, which is strong enough to restrict or at least place tolls for the goods coming from China and other unfair playfield countries.

 

This is to hinder unfair competition of the countries and make them pay import taxes, which exploit their workers. 

 

That is what EU is talking, when it requires UK to have level playfield, if it wishes to have better access to the EU's 450M people's markets. Fair enough. 

 

But if England wishes to become Bangladesh and really exploit it's workforce, the common people, it can still do it, with WTO tariffs. I'll assume there is a limit how low English workers will bend over for their employers, butt who knows.

[luckyluke]

Just now, nauseus said:

I meant that it is sad that you don't know how they interfere in your daily life. 

Oh, sorry.

 

I can only speak about myself, and others of my age, how our daily life was before the E.U. and since the E.U..

What changed concretely is that we use now the Euro instead of the Belgian Franc.

 

I, like others, received a small increase last month  of our pension, due to a different way of tax calculations;

And probably an increase of 2% next month or the month after.

 

If  that is due to the interference of the E.U. I don't know,

they don't tell us.

 

We still believe that it is our government which issue laws and regulations for its citizens.

[TheDark]

5 hours ago, luckyluke said:

I not really know that.

I know they don't interfere in my daily life. 

And I read today in a Belgian media that the E.U. cost me (like every other  Belgian) 86 Euro yearly, the equivalent of +/- 250 ThB monthly. 

Something I can live with for having European Union on my passport. 

I suppose it will be more next year without the contribution of the U.K..

There seems to be a E.U meeting Thursday for the E.U. budget 2021-2027.

EU does have a PR problem. EU is like electricity company engineer, who have all these years have provided us a good and steady service. All the work for us has been done pretty much on background, out of our view.

 

EU does all standardization and the studies which are required to do the good job. We keep on living our common lives and if EU's work is done well, we don't even notice their work. 

 

We only notice if out electricity is down for few minutes, which then becomes playday for the clickbait medias. 

 

I do think that it's freaking good deal to export a lot of boring bureaucracy work to the unelected officials at Brussels. Let them do all the hard work, which benefits all of us together. Then there is also the elected officials, who define the work these unelected ones need to do. It's like having functional Westminster and all the real work doing Whitehall for 450 million people. This method lessens a lot of work, which the member states don't have to do anymore (aka reduces costs).

[nauseus]

12 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

Oh, sorry.

 

I can only speak about myself, and others of my age, how our daily life was before the E.U. and since the E.U..

What changed concretely is that we use now the Euro instead of the Belgian Franc.

 

I, like others, received a small increase last month  of our pension, due to a different way of tax calculations;

And probably an increase of 2% next month or the month after.

 

If  that is due to the interference of the E.U. I don't know,

they don't tell us.

 

We still believe that it is our government which issue laws and regulations for its citizens.

Congratulations on your pay rise from the beneficent government of Belgium!

[nauseus]

12 minutes ago, TheDark said:

EU does have a PR problem. EU is like electricity company engineer, who have all these years have provided us a good and steady service. All the work for us has been done pretty much on background, out of our view.

 

EU does all standardization and the studies which are required to do the good job. We keep on living our common lives and if EU's work is done well, we don't even notice their work. 

 

We only notice if out electricity is down for few minutes, which then becomes playday for the clickbait medias. 

 

I do think that it's freaking good deal to export a lot of boring bureaucracy work to the unelected officials at Brussels. Let them do all the hard work, which benefits all of us together. Then there is also the elected officials, who define the work these unelected ones need to do. It's like having functional Westminster and all the real work doing Whitehall for 450 million people. This method lessens a lot of work, which the member states don't have to do anymore (aka reduces costs).

reduces costs   right

[TheDark]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

What a load of BS.

Nearly everything sold in the EU was made in China and other third world sweat shops.

I almost forgot to say, aren't you jealous for French workers, who manage to go through their lives, working less than 40 hour per week and retire in their early 60's if no earlier? 

 

Yet they seem to live a bloody good life after retirement. 

 

The same applies all around the Europe. The same doesn't seem to happen in other parts of the world. 

 

I guess EU's protectionism has been quite good deal for the people, the Europeans. 

 

But as the Brexiteers wish to make UK less fair place for the working class people, they won, and that's what they will get. The rich will become richer, the working class folks wish to become rich, which they never will. 

 

For the love of USA standard of living, UK will become more and more one of the states of the USA!

[TheDark]

1 minute ago, nauseus said:

reduces costs   right

Not everybody can understand the larger entities. I'm fine with that. 

[BritManToo]

20 minutes ago, TheDark said:

I almost forgot to say, aren't you jealous for French workers, who manage to go through their lives, working less than 40 hour per week and retire in their early 60's if no earlier? 

I retired at 45.

France is almost having a civil war at the moment.

[luckyluke]

18 minutes ago, nauseus said:

Congratulations on your pay rise from the beneficent government of Belgium!

Good for us as long as it stands.

 

It may change next year,

assuming the U.K. don't pay any contribution anymore.

 

 

 

 

[vogie]

29 minutes ago, TheDark said:

I almost forgot to say, aren't you jealous for French workers, who manage to go through their lives, working less than 40 hour per week and retire in their early 60's if no earlier? 

 

Yet they seem to live a bloody good life after retirement. 

 

The same applies all around the Europe. The same doesn't seem to happen in other parts of the world. 

 

I guess EU's protectionism has been quite good deal for the people, the Europeans. 

 

But as the Brexiteers wish to make UK less fair place for the working class people, they won, and that's what they will get. The rich will become richer, the working class folks wish to become rich, which they never will. 

 

For the love of USA standard of living, UK will become more and more one of the states of the USA!

Many workers rights are much better in the UK than in your beloved EU.

 

Another thing that may be of interest to you is that Portugal is planning special fast track lanes for Brits in their airports.

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by vogie

[TheDark]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I retired at 45.

France is almost having a civil war at the moment.

Good for you. 

 

France is not as you well know. French people are passionate of their freedoms, as we all know.

If you choose to share some of the burning street photos from Paris, I will respond with some of the stubbing photos from London, claiming it's all around England. So let's spare the time and no do it.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, TheDark said:

Good for you. 

 

France is not as you well know. French people are passionate of their freedoms, as we all know.

If you choose to share some of the burning street photos from Paris, I will respond with some of the stubbing photos from London, claiming it's all around England. So let's spare the time and no do it.

I don't live in either place, so don't give a damn.

Still thinking about buying a rundown farm in France though.

Plenty on sale for 15,000-20,000 Euros, property taxes put me off though, you need to be over 70 to be excused property tax.

[TheDark]

2 minutes ago, vogie said:

Many workers rights are much better in the UK than in your beloved EU.

 

Another thing that may be of interest to you is that Portugal are planning special fast track lanes for Brits in their airports.

 

 

I believe UK did set those standards while being within the EU. Each EU country can define her own standards for many things - and they do.

 

But there are things where EU steps in. Quite like defining hazardous working conditions and materials. 

 

That's why this photo is so hilarious. One does not simply burn a EU flag, when it's made by EU standards of non burnable materials. ????

 

 

But hey, England is leaving these commonly accepted standards behind and she is chosen to go on her own way. That's fine, if England wishes to do so. It's not just for everybody. Fortunately EU is a lot larger entity than England, so it has the ability and real power to set the standards. 

 

[Andrew65]

18 hours ago, nauseus said:

Whatever you do, never accept a TV invitation from Andrew Neil.

Andrew Neil's rather like Jeremy Paxman in that way. He'll nail their lies, is persistent, and probably more clever than the politicians he interviews.

They say Mrs Thatcher had "favourite" interviewers, that means people who gave her an easy time and didn't ask too many searching or difficult questions.

Whether politicians or celebrities, many of these people, before an interview, set out a list of things that they either will or will not talk about. If you throw a "curveball" to people like Boris or Trump, a question they're not prepared for, or have insufficient knowledge of, they're likely to flounder, and start lying & insulting people.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Andrew65