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[Rods2]

I think the free movement of goods and services in Europe through the EU common market has been of great benefit to the European countries.

The problem is all of the political baggage. Norway and Switzerland have done very well there they are associate members so benefit from the common market, without all of the political baggage and this is what the UK should have done.

Some of the major problems Euro, Common Agricultural Policy, Common Fisheries Policy, Brussels (or Strasbourg to keep the French happy, where EU parliament switches to here twice a year - Total madness  )  Incompatible legal systems. In UK everything is legal unless made illegal, In France everything is illegal unless there is a law to make it legal. The French influence means that all of the Common Market trading standards are micro managed. Socialist human rights and employment laws, which destroy jobs. Most EU countries have had much higher government spending than this country, high taxes, inflexible labour laws and high unemployment.

The UK used to be one of the exceptions to this and had much lower taxes and unemployment, but where Government spending has gone from 32% of GDP in early 1990's to 52% now. We now have very high taxes, much more restrictive employment legislation and a official unemployment rate of 8.1% and a real rate much higher than this. 

Personally, I think anti-democratic Brussels is the EUSSR. At some point when the whole of Western Europe has become very, very poor compared to most of the rest of the world, then it will all fall apart, like the USSR did (this took 80 years). I just hope it happens peacefully.

[Varche]

I think the free movement of goods and services in Europe through the EU common market has been of great benefit to the European countries.

The problem is all of the political baggage. Norway and Switzerland have done very well there they are associate members so benefit from the common market, without all of the political baggage and this is what the UK should have done.

Some of the major problems Euro, Common Agricultural Policy, Common Fisheries Policy, Brussels (or Strasbourg to keep the French happy, where EU parliament switches to here twice a year - Total madness  )  Incompatible legal systems. In UK everything is legal unless made illegal, In France everything is illegal unless there is a law to make it legal. The French influence means that all of the Common Market trading standards are micro managed. Socialist human rights and employment laws, which destroy jobs. Most EU countries have had much higher government spending than this country, high taxes, inflexible labour laws and high unemployment.

The UK used to be one of the exceptions to this and had much lower taxes and unemployment, but where Government spending has gone from 32% of GDP in early 1990's to 52% now. We now have very high taxes, much more restrictive employment legislation and a official unemployment rate of 8.1% and a real rate much higher than this.

Personally, I think anti-democratic Brussels is the EUSSR. At some point when the whole of Western Europe has become very, very poor compared to most of the rest of the world, then it will all fall apart, like the USSR did (this took 80 years). I just hope it happens peacefully.

That is low! Spain is around 20% for the whole country and 29% for Andalucia (the bit with the Costa del Sol in it). It will worsen now it is the end of the holiday season. there is a human tragedy too as Spain sought and got a million immigrants to work on agriculture and construction only a handful of years ago. They got assistance with travel to Spain and the only requirement was to speak Spanish. many then took out mortgages on flats. Then came the crash and all jobs now are seemingly offered to family or Spanish people. There has been a steady exodus of people back to South America and they just hand the keys and their equity back to the banks.

[Martin_1962]

The Napolionic legal system is a complete and utter joke, this is why the EU are trying to control us as Common law is a lot better.

[Dishevelled Den]

Personally, I think anti-democratic Brussels is the EUSSR. At some point when the whole of Western Europe has become very, very poor compared to most of the rest of the world, then it will all fall apart, like the USSR did (this took 80 years). I just hope it happens peacefully.

Personally, I think anti-democratic Brussels is the EUSSR. At some point when the whole of Western Europe has become very, very poor compared to most of the rest of the world, then it will all fall apart, like the USSR did (this took 80 years).

There is a very real possibility of this happening.

I just hope it happens peacefully.

That should be of concern to us all although I suspect that it may well not.

[Nickbat]

It would seem Spanish fishermen have done quite well out of the EU. 

"Simply put, nearly one in three fish caught on a Spanish hook or raised in a Spanish farm is paid for with public money." 

http://trawlingfortruth.blogspot.com/2011/10/spanish-practices.html

[Varche]

Nick. The problem here is twofold.

Firstly scale. The Spanish housewife buys lots and lots of fish not just on Fridays yet the population is the same size(roughly) as Britain. How many times a month does the ?K household buy fish and then it is probably processed cr*p and not identifiable. So they consume vastly more.

Secondly the Spanish like other European countries look after themselves. Britain has a rather strange attitude to fair play and when no one else abides by the rules puts its hands up like a found out schoolboy. Doesn't work. Britain needs to learn how to play the game. We just let foreign companies buy our companies( Santander and Telefonica - banks and O2) taking advantage of tax loopholes since closed. How many foreign companies have Britain bought? Err diddly squat. Why? They would never allow it even though EU law would say it should happen.

The fishing rot set in years ago when the Spanish bought up British licences because our governemnt of the time were too stupid to support the fishing industry. sadly a familiar story. Britain doesn't really support any of our industries, instead expecting them to make their own way in the big bad world. We need to grow up and play dirty too. 

 

[Nickbat]

Nick. The problem here is twofold.

Firstly scale. The Spanish housewife buys lots and lots of fish not just on Fridays yet the population is the same size(roughly) as Britain. How many times a month does the ?K household buy fish and then it is probably processed cr*p and not identifiable. So they consume vastly more.

Secondly the Spanish like other European countries look after themselves. Britain has a rather strange attitude to fair play and when no one else abides by the rules puts its hands up like a found out schoolboy. Doesn't work. Britain needs to learn how to play the game. We just let foreign companies buy our companies( Santander and Telefonica - banks and O2) taking advantage of tax loopholes since closed. How many foreign companies have Britain bought? Err diddly squat. Why? They would never allow it even though EU law would say it should happen.

The fishing rot set in years ago when the Spanish bought up British licences because our governemnt of the time were too stupid to support the fishing industry. sadly a familiar story. Britain doesn't really support any of our industries, instead expecting them to make their own way in the big bad world. We need to grow up and play dirty too. 

Can't disagree with any of that, Varche. 

(Especially the bit about rotting fish fishing rot )