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Gruenebaum1

Listed below are comments made by Gruenebaum1 between Thursday, 19th June 2008 and Monday, 15th September 2008.

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Is Europe cut off? 12:26pm on 15 Sep 2008 Who needs Brits on the continent, anyway?

The louts and football hooligans are a disgrace as are the gunball snobs.

The consultants and other political parasites who just come to Brussels to cream of are not wanted either.

The educated and decent British middle-class who do not look down on the rest of Europe have already relocated to their houses in France and Spain.

(posting may contian irony)
France builds nuclear future 11:17am on 15 Jul 2008 @ #5

You are aware that we live in a west wind drift, aren't you?

Or are you a Thatcherite who still believes that all evil is coming from the continent?
A Polish No? 11:48am on 11 Jul 2008 I am grateful to the guy who currently impersonates the Polish President.

85% of his population are not with him on this, neither are government or parliament.

Do we need more prove that Europe is held hostage by small groups and individuals who are ill-informed and have bad intentions?

Their model for Europe is shifting alliances of nation states as we had it in 1914. And we all know where this led.

I have stopped reading all the nonsense posted here, but sometimes I see a highlight:

#9 says that a treaty should be drafted that creates "something everyone wants". How utterly silly and infantile. Can we have 24 hour sunshine on top of this, please.
Queasy over health plans 12:02pm on 03 Jul 2008 Health care is not a service industry whatever the incumbents want us to believe. They fear competition like hell. They want to continue calling the shots which in some countries like Germany means total lack of cost control and in other countries like the UK means miserable quality.

But health care is a service and should be subject to competition within a strict regulatory framework. It's my understanding that the Commission proposal would bring a basic degree of competition to the sector which is, well, healthy.

Funny though that the UK loves competition to a degree where it just destroys jobs (like in manufacturing), but still clings to the rather socialist NHS with bizarre passion. Go figure.
Tough Tory choices 4:20pm on 27 Jun 2008 I feel that the continent ain't bovvered.

I suggest that the UK rides out its bubble economy disaster first before trying to play with the big boys.
Treaty puzzle not yet solved 3:28pm on 23 Jun 2008 Coming back to #23:

The Treaty in force (the Nice Treaty) implicitely limits the EU to 27 members. The answer given in #29 is wrong.

Sarkozy (and very surprisingly Merkel who effectively sells the Croats down the river, but I guess they already got a call from her) have made clear that enlargement won't happen without the Lisbon Treaty. Not that the Irish would bother, but the Czechs and Poles will. It's good old power politics again in Europe.

That's why I am confident that things will move forward. Germany and France won't abandon the European project just because a minority of the Irish electorate wanted to play poker (we are now seeing better the key motivations of the Irish nay-sayers. They just don't want to share funds with the Eastern Europeans and they don't want to give the countries with large populations a bigger say - so much for connecting to the core values of solidarity and democracy).

The insult that this will end in a Franco-Prussian dictatorship is just ludicrous and shows the xenophobic core of the europhobes' arguments. The relations between France and Germany cannot be reduced to the 2nd half of the 19th and 1st half of the 20th century, even if this is all what British kids learn in school. I concur with Jacques Lang that the Treaty of Verdun was a mistake (the treaty of 843 of course). It's about to be corrected.....

For the record: I have never claimed that the majority of the British are europhobes. The majority is just not very well informed about the EU. The europhobes are actually a small, but noisy minority.
Treaty puzzle not yet solved 07:57am on 21 Jun 2008 To answer #4: The Germans are massively against more nations who only join because they are after Germany`s money, but otherwise only add trouble. They are going to buy German products anyway.

The French certainly don`t connect at all to those east European weirdos who don`t speak French and eat disgusting stuff.

This is now heading for a core Europe. I won`t be surprised if we have a United States of Europe with 15-20 members in 10 years. I find this the only honest way out. Europe needs to unite and cannot be held hostage by some 150.000 Irish or 1 British judge (or whoever comes next). This system is broken and needs replacement.

It`s already clear that this crisis is bringing France and Germany even closer which must be the British europhobes`worst nightmare. The europhobes have clearly overplayed their cards.

And the Czechs may be difficult, but they are eternal appeasers. They didn`t fight in 1938, nor did they in 1946 or 1968. Their nation broke up in 1992 without a whimper. They seem to be only heroic when it doesn`t cost them and doesn`t delay them on the way to the pub. Let`s give them the price tag for this one.
The meaning of 'No' 11:10am on 19 Jun 2008 Me again.

ScepticMax (formerly MaxSceptic I guess), FreebornJohn and the other europhobes are really in trouble.

They don't like European co-operation (which is a legitimate view), but now they need the Irish or the rather weird Mr Klaus (who also says that climate change is an invention and that the EURO doesn't work) to stop something that they cannot stop by democratic means in their own country.

You consistently argue for direct democratic accountability. Fine by me, but what exactly is your democratic link to Mr Klaus?

You guys would cheer Dschingis Khan if he came out as a critic of the EU.
The meaning of 'No' 11:00am on 19 Jun 2008 @FreebornJohn (#29)

Calling other people's argument junk is not really proof of democratic culture.

The EU consists of independent states. These decide on their democratic procedures. The German constitution, for example, does not foresee referenda at all on national level. Are you saying that Germany is not a democratic country?

Pretty arrogant, in my view.
The meaning of 'No' 10:55am on 19 Jun 2008 Respect the Irish "No"!

And respect the 19 "yeses"! (Because they were achieved just as democratically as the "no").

We have to conclude that the Irish said no for themselves. They are not mandated to speak for me or any other EU citizen.

Legally, quite difficult to resolve. Politically, crystal clear. Ireland opted out of the EU!

Two more remarks:

I found it utterly amusing that the Tories would not have any collective decision making with their partners in Brussels, but happily accept a dictate from a minority of the Irish electorate. Says it all, really. They just don't want Europe to work.

It's my hunch that the translations into Gaelic delayed the Lisbon Treaty. Otherwise, it would have been the Dublin Treaty. I cannot imagine that a "Say No to Dublin" campaign would have had the same result as what came out now.

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