Bazj Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Back in the day when countries could manage their own currency values, countries like Spain and Greece could keep below the competion and attract tourists with the lure of cheap booze, hotels etc. Now they are shackled to the Euro they are screwed. Greece has to keep putting up taxes and prices to cut their deficeits.....unfortunately that will batter tourism when the likes of Egypt and Turkey are churning out cheaper and cheaper holiday packages. Everything went up when the Euro came in to force. My mate in Germany said every shop just rounded up to the nearest euro on big items but none rounded down! Germany still has the price in Marks on most of their till receipts...... that tells you something! The euro is doomed!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 No they do not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 No they do not what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Looking a bit dodgy, watching BBC at teatime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 It's only a free trade zone, if your in it asp There are currently 28 non-EU countries with free trade agreements with the EU. Free trade countries You do NOT have to be in it to win it! So, now we can take trade off the table as an advantage of EU membership - what's left????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 No you can not, as most of those Countrties only have free trade on specific goods inky. If your in it all trade is free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 How can it be "free" to us, when we are paying, as a net contributor, for the privilage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 No you can not, as most of those Countrties only have free trade on specific goods inky. If your in it all trade is free. All four of the EFTA countries have COMPLETE free trade access to the EU. The others, as you say, only have free trade access on certain goods - usually the one's which they actually trade to the EU! So I ask again. Since it is obviously possible to have free trade access to the EU without all the other bo**ocks, what do we actually get in return for surrendering our right to self-determination to an un-elected and unaccountable commission to justify our billions in NET contributions????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 The EFTA Countries http://www.efta.int/about-efta/the-efta-states.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 {Kije sidesteps the question yet again}......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 The EFTA Countries http://www.efta.int/about-efta/the-efta-states.aspx Yep, them's the ones. FULL members of the European Economic Area (as were all of the other EFTA members - Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden, UK and Finland - who's EFTA membership lapsed when they went on to become EU members) all with FULL access to the EU free trade area. If we were to leave the EU we would simply renew our membership of EFTA and have EXACTLY THE SAME trading rights and relationships with the EU countries that we have now. Trade has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with our EU membership. So what DO all those billions buy us that, for example, Norway, doesn't get for free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Could we renew our membership inky???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Could we renew our membership inky???? Yep. The other EFTA countries would welcome us with open arms. EFTA have gone on record and pretty much said so. Even if for some reason EFTA wouldn't have us, the EU countries WANT to trade with the UK - so we could very easily negotiate our own bilateral agreements either with the EU as a whole or with individual member states (as long as we do it while they still exist!) Next question. Or are you just flailing about for any reason to say we're trapped in the EUSSR and there's no alternative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 You might want to read this inky http://www.jcm.org.uk/blog/2011/05/why-britain-leaving-the-eu-for-the-eea-or-efta-will-not-solve-any-of-the-anti-eu-crowds-complaints/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 "you need a certain amount of political harmonisation to enable functional, stable economic harmonisation" a certain amount???? is that guy for real? we are being taken over by a lot more than a "certain amount" that is for sure! and seeing as there are millions of people; including many of the mainstream press, who agree that we should ditch the EU as soon as we can, who is this lone voice in the wilderness? (well apart from you of course Kije) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Baz you like to think you're the majority, as you shout louder thats all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 who is this lone voice in the wilderness? "Winner, European Parliament Prize for Journalism 2010" Says it all really. Hardly a Pulitzer, is it? Thinking about it, didn't that used to be called the "Joseph Goebbels Creative Writing Competition"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 inky, I would have expected Baz or Obs to come back with a post like that, was I expecting to much Still it does undermine you some what Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 I know a lot of people Kije, and I have yet to meet one that thinks like you do. YOU have not yet put forward an answer to the topic. Do you have one, and maybe you can convince the rest of us of the error of our ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Peter do you know why we actually pay into the Eu And your the first person I have talked to/posted to that does not even think we are in Europe And what would your plan be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 We are not "in" Europe. We are an island on the edge of the land mass that is Europe. You may think that we anti-Europe people are the minority..... you may think that, but it sure isn't right kije. The people of this country see cuts everywhere they look and yet when we look to Europe, we see a bunch of un-elected pen-pushers and failed politicians who are earning salaries that are massively out of proportion to the salaries of even our own Prime Minister. We see these same pen pushers demanding that the net contributors (Us, France Germany) cough up even more additional millions so that they the pen pushers can stick their snouts further into the trough. The EU was asking for a 5.95% increase in contributions. These additional contributions demanded from Britain alone is around £880 million or enough to keep 70 Harrier Jump Jets flying Every Country in Europe is cutting spending at almost every level (except our stupid decsision to ringfence overseas aid) The EU voted for an 85% increase in their "entertainment" budget (that's AN EIGHTY FIVE PERCENT INCRESE ON THEIR ENTERTAINMENT BUDGET) An MEP put forward a motion to reduce the entertainment budget and he was shouted down and the motion defeated..... all this on the same day last year when 100,000 people marched in Brussels against cuts and job losses.... The entertainment budget includes higher canteen subsidies (cheaper wine, low-fat fries) and increased spending on EU ‘information’ (ie propaganda churned out to schools, libraries and other public institutions). Last year that budget was used to pay for an event called ‘I Love EU’, in which professional dancers taught the assembled crowds to boogie-on-down in homage to the ‘Manneken Pis’, the urinating statue famous the world over as the symbol of Brussels. Please show us all how you justify this waste Kije.... I and I'm sure the rest of the forum world can't wait to hear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 The UK has always[/b ]been part of Europe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 The UK has always[/b ]been part of Europe err as I recall, 3/4 of the world were part of our empire up until a few years ago.... doesn't mean a lot. Now, explain the rest of my previous post and convince us all that the EU is wonderful or are you just going to take your usual line and point out minor irrelavent points until everyone has forgotten you didn't actually answer the questions asked and the points raised? You are very good at dodging Kije...... (Kije will now come back with some retort about Me dodging and that the Empire..... etc etc. but he won't explain the entertainment budget increases or the fact that 70 Harrier Jump Jets could be flown for the extra amount the EU want to screw the UK for).... but don't tell him I sussed him out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 One of the reasons we pay into Europe Baz is to equalise the market, hence the poorer and less developed EU countries get more, as they develop they will take less, until we have a level and equal playing field, The richer Countries will always pay more, how are you getting your figures is it per country or is it on population. We rightly gave our Empire back, but you cannot change geography the UK has always been in Europe. Have a look at this, look at all the graphs http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8036097.stm#start Almost forgot Stop dodging Baz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Wow!!!!! Just spotted a reason to stay in the EU - they're planning legislation to cut the amount of water in our bacon - thus our full English may get tastier - surely that must be worth the £billions we're paying to keep supporting it?!!!! :grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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