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Brexit: Talks on backstop 'alternative arrangements'
bbc.com ^ | 4 February 2019 | BBC

Posted on 02/04/2019 3:37:30 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper

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To: SteveH

And my main point about Switzerland was that Switzerland is a smaller version of the EU — it has individual cantons that are practically independent and joined in a confederation. So, if tomorrow Vaudois decides to leave, it could, but it would damage its economy utterly


101 posted on 02/07/2019 2:14:33 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH
The Greece-Turkey border is about as porous as the US-Mexico border

The migrants in Calais CAN'T get into the UK because the UK does not follow Schengen. The UK leaving or staying in the EU does not affect this in any way as the migrants are not EU citizens

102 posted on 02/07/2019 2:16:09 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH
Poland and Hungary are staying in the EU - from a people's point of view, well over 60% of each country's population wishes to stay and most politicos do as well.

But they are following the policy of shifting EU policy from within. The sickening part of Brexit is that until 2016 the UK was their biggest ally to push agianst the Franco-German axis.

The UK had more clout within than it will have without

103 posted on 02/07/2019 2:17:46 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH; Berlin_Freeper

How can you not see it as factual when it is a fact. The majority of people in Poland wish to stay in the EU — even if they don’t like the EU, they hate Ciocia Merkel’s ideas etc. The reason is similar to why Texas stays in the USA even during the Obama years.


104 posted on 02/07/2019 2:21:35 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Cronos

this (your) argument can be extended further, until there is a one world government. is that what you favor? after all, trade in theory becomes easier. and at least for you it seems to be all about trade. my outlook is not so ... dismal. i don’t think trade agreements invariably follow the path of least resistance. there are cultural ties. currency ties. elasticity of many forms. intangibles such as goodwill. in the future there may be new and relatively strong bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and new transport technologies such as biomass fuels, new oilfield discoveries and exploitation, aerospace transport. you do make some good points. but some of this stuff is to some degree cyclic. nations trade off on expertise and exploitation of natural resources. the thing changing is change itself. if a country suffers a recession, some manufacturing segment will sooner or later swoop in and exploit the resultant cheap labor, resulting in eventually more prosperity again. as for eurozone the major distinction to me is that gb still has the pound and not the euro. i would be inclined to believe that that makes withdrawal from the EU much easier than it would otherwise be.

Now you have not yet gotten back to me why Switzerland is not in the stone age due to being neither in the EU nor the eurozone. Why no gloom and doom from you concerning Switzerland’s fate? Surely it must see the error of its economically backwards ways. It’s a very small country. Much smaller than GB, with or without its satellite entities. Surely if bigger is invariably better then Switzerland’s economy has already hit rock bottom. Along with its banking industry which must have by now completely deserted it for greener pastures. Right?


105 posted on 02/07/2019 2:28:22 AM PST by SteveH
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To: SteveH; Berlin_Freeper
imho that economic inequity will not last very long. it did not last very long in east germany’s case.

Your opinion is wrong - East Germany is still, 30 years after unification, poorer, lesser opportunities and more depopulated compared to Western Germany. Berlin is the exception



Per capita income in the East is roughly 70% of the West, even now

Poland's economic growth is heavily because of growth in new industries PLUS being incorporated into the massive German-Czech-Slovak supply chain.

106 posted on 02/07/2019 2:33:58 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Cronos

I’m sure the Polish people have their MSM as the USA has its MSM. There is so much dust being kicked up and the Poles won their independence from the Iron block only relatively recently in the historical timeline. They are just getting started in what is a new experience for them. I am not particularly concerned about how they may or may not indicate a flaw in my reasoning. I am at a slight disadvantage because I have not visited all countries in Europe and Poland is one country that I have missed so far so I have no firsthand observation and discussion with natives in their native land. Otherwise I consider them an outlier due to the youth of their relatively new government and relatively newly won independence. Perhaps they need more time to figure things out. Perhaps they will always enjoy being an enigma. Who knows.


107 posted on 02/07/2019 2:34:59 AM PST by SteveH
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To: SteveH; Berlin_Freeper

Poland is Catholic and no we don’t welcome Mozzies and Mozzies don’t want to come here. They don’t come here because we have a pitiful welfare state and we have a tough language and we don’t allow mosques to be built anywhere except in the north-east (traditional Tatar Muslims are welcomed as Poles and they ARE poles)


108 posted on 02/07/2019 2:35:26 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Cronos

Ummm... sooo?


109 posted on 02/07/2019 2:35:58 AM PST by SteveH
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To: Cronos

i need to sleep since it is late in the evening where i am now. cheers and hip hip.


110 posted on 02/07/2019 2:43:03 AM PST by SteveH
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To: SteveH; Berlin_Freeper
"support for .." -- what are you talking about? There is no support for Mozzie immigration outside the centers of London, Paris and to some extent Stockholm and Berlin. This is the same as in the US with Dem politicians and San Francisco supporting such stuff

The EU has political differences, that's why they are separate countries but in a loose federation - more looser than the US, german or swiss federations but more than a trade union.

And of course cultural differences

but the key is - open trade and free movement of European peoples across the EU.

111 posted on 02/07/2019 3:11:24 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

the farm work in Poland goes to Ukrainians, Belarussians and now increasingly Hindu/Sikh Indians


112 posted on 02/07/2019 3:12:20 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH

Quite frankly, unless your parents were born in Ireland, you’re no longer tied to Ireland. The US way of saying “oh, i’m polish/irish/italian’ but it turns out that the connections was more than 3 generations ago, is tenuous to say the least


113 posted on 02/07/2019 3:13:43 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH
No, the argument cannot be extended further to One World argument except by reducto ad absurdem

The EU has common cultural and historical origins, as does the Indian Union. Russia and Turkey aren't included, neither is Morocco, which is why they are out.

114 posted on 02/07/2019 3:18:17 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH
Furthermore the EU is not One EU government -- the EU President has to work by total consensus and the EU parliament is subordinate to the European council consisting of individual country's leaders.
115 posted on 02/07/2019 3:21:05 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH
Trade is easy between Greece and the UK but not between Greece and Algeria or the UK and Algeria. The differences are too vast

However the differences within the EU are no vaster than between different American states

In terms of cultural and currency ties and elasticity, there is a lot in common between Bulgaria and Britain.

You keep saying "nations trade off on expertise and exploitation of natural resource" - but forget that many of the nations in the EU like Latvia, Luxembourg etc are smaller than Delaware. The way for them to compete is to be part of a larger entity, just as the way for DE to survive is to be part of a larger entity

If Louisiana suffers a recession, some manufacturing segment will exploit the cheap labour - but it's not even that simple - supply chains are critical. Why is it hard to move away from China? The supply chain ecosystem makes it more difficult.

In the case of Europe you have a number of German car firms set up in the west of Poland, in the Czech republic etc.

Finally, you keep mixing up the Eurozone and the EU -- GB has its own currency as do half of the EU countries having their own currencies.

116 posted on 02/07/2019 3:25:12 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH
Switzerland is pracitically IN the EU - it:
  1. Allows full freedom of movement of people across its borders with the EU
  2. full non-tariff movement of goods and services and capital
  3. has to follow ALL EU rules and regulations
  4. pays money to the EU
BUT it does not have any representation in the EU decision making process

Switzerland is as if DE paid dues to the US Fed and allowed free movement of goods, people, services and capital but had no representation in Congress or the Senate.

The UK wants that??? Taxation without representation

117 posted on 02/07/2019 3:27:40 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH

And Switzerland IS a mini-EU. Don’t you see that? it is not a unitary state like France or the UK pre-1997 but consists of multiple “nations” that rule themselves but have a common confederation. This is like the EU, but with more control than the EU has over its member states


118 posted on 02/07/2019 3:28:42 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: SteveH
Sigh - the EU is the opportunity for Poland to change the direction led by France and Germany. Poland's economy has been growing for the past 20 years and has more political clout.

.Joining the EU has not cut off Polish independence in any way

119 posted on 02/07/2019 3:30:17 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: central_va

Full of facts? Yes. And “global” nah. Or do you think it is global for Virginia to have open borders with Maryland?


120 posted on 02/07/2019 3:31:21 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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