Mapping the New Europe

Ever since the Germans started using their word Lebensraum in connection with their policy towards Eastern Europe before the Second World War, one has to be suspicious when the word “Raum” is used in any policy connection by the Germans. For instance, Raumordnung can mean “spatial planning” if you want it to sound innocent and “area order” if you don’t. “Raum” can also mean territory. A “Raum” can also mean something as small as a habitat (as in the biological sense of “Lebensraum”), but the Germans have the same word as the British for region, and a “Raum” can also be something bigger than a region (which has its political expression in the German Länder.

But when Germans start to use the idea of “the European Area Development Concept” which includes chunks of the United Kingdom, one has to get really jumpy. This could also be translated as “European Spatial Development Concept” which, if anything would be worse.

So when it was reported in The Telegraph this week that “New EU map makes Kent part of the same nation as France”, I thought it was worthwhile going back to some of the sources.

Although many freepers seem to think otherwise, the French riots were not religion based. It was more a social status conflict.

Yes, I'm aware of the French-style hair splitting. The operative factor is that they were united violently against France. If anyone wants to believe that is unrelated to Islam (not just religion, but, in fact, Islam), then go right ahead, I will not exert any effort to relieve Euros of their misperceptions.

What's more, you are responding to just a small piece of my post in which I list a long list of totally Islamic driven murder and destruction across Europe. However you just picked a hair splitting nuance to a sub section of my post by way of rebuttal. I don't believe you can explain away all those events, so you, perhaps, dodged them? I think there is an incredible amount of denial in Europeans today, and among many others.

Beside a general political discussion whether we will see a united states of europe or if this is a goal we should try to archive the reality for the people at least in many regions has changed very much in the least two decades.

Germans work in luxembourg people from luxembourg live in germany germans live in france while many people from the netherlands prefer the cheaper house prices in germany. With the same currency no borders with a common market and the common laws in my opinion it is simply a phylosophical question how to call this project.

The main real differences are the different tax laws and the advantages or disadvantages but even here it seems very likely that this will change.
There are cultural differences but in my opinion that´s a huge advantage and a gift and hopefully there are not so many changes here.

NO only on a local level.

In EU countries EU foreigners are not allowed to vote on a state level or the federal level but they have the right to vote in the local elections and clearly in the EU elections. (as far as i know that´s the case in every EU country)

This is a interesting topic. The "pressure" to change the citizenship is much higher for not EU people simply because beside the right to vote with a EU passport you got for example no ( at least for the older EU countries) working restrictions or other practical problems i would for example face if i wanted to live and work in the US.

In my opinion the really strange thing about the EU is that many people have no idea about the amount of laws and rules that are made in brussels (and not in their home states) and the lack of knowledge about the institutions of the EU.

The reason for that is the way the EU is ruled and the very complicated way rules are established but in my opinion a strange result of the bigger EU of the 25 and of the membership of EU critics as poland will be a more democratic EU. (the last thing the Eu critics want)

The Eu we see today does not and will not work in the longer perspective and everybody agrees here but the problems of the critics and more nationalistic oriented countries is that they also will have to answer the problem how to rule this bigger institution with the present (voting) system ( were they clearly want to be a part of ).

In the end it will be as it has always been in the last 50 years the integration will go on and the project will continue.
Fearful people and ney sayers never created anything good and will never great anything. The more progressive middle and western european countries can always say that they will found a new organization called "core EU" and here we are at the beginning and the real reason why it will continue every country benefits from he EU in the one way or the other and that´s the reason it will go on.

many americans died during the process of creating the country we all know today. beside that the european borders changed so often especially in my region while the concept of national states is more or less new in the history of societies.

It is not about destroying countries or citizenship or cultural differences. I love the differences and enjoy the different style and flair i can get only driving one hour in my car and i like the benefits of getting a different perspective or to speak a different language.

The main point is it makes people richer if it is easy to live and work in another country. it benefits all countries in a economic way and that does not mean that germany does no longer exist in the future or that we all become europeans while we lose our identity but as said soemone should look at the history especially in the middle of europe.

when you call a austrian a german that lost a war against prussia he would be very fury because nowadays austria is a very patriotic country while it belonged and ruled the holy german empire for hundreds of years.

national identities are in many ways a emotional concept that can change over the years as it has changed so often.
A bavarian in the early 19s century would not have had very warm feelings about being german and i am not sure about the feelings of someone in the south o the US at the same time.

by the way there are interesting studies about the growing feelings about being european. If you like i look for some of these results.

Perhaps in some generations the people wave the european flag as they now wave the flag of the united states of america.

The world has always changed and that something perhaps sounds strange or that i feel as a german and would like to keep my citizenship does not mean that future generations share my perspective.

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