Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

Of course there will be economic effects on several of the EU members. There is howevrr, an important difference with the UK. As soon as was obvious the UK would exit (2017), all members started to prepare. There were economic impact studies etc. They were not discarded as project fear, but used to set up contingiency plans. And plans were put into actions. By march 2019 we were ready. E.g. rotterdam harbour had commissioned 9,000 customs officials. The french have an automated system for hauliers. The UK is still developing such a system, and it must be up and running now. Because you have to train personnel to use it, you need personnel with companies to make the correct applications.
We are still ready, the UK has no idea what to do. That makes a big difference in the hit you are going to take and what the EU will have to muster.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

You perhaps jest in haste Solasch. It could indeed in many cases, be that of the EU needing us more than we need them. In each of your posts, it is always about how much the UK is going to suffer. Not once have you had the courage or even good sense to admit just how much hurt the EU member states are also going to suffer, especially if no deal at the end of the transition period.

I wonder how thankful each and every member state will still be to Barnaby and Co, ever willing and happy to have a go at the UK and to do your bidding every step of the way, alw
You are always eager to tell us how much of a united front all 27 of you are. I wonder again, just how grateful will you still feel that you held out to the end, even though both walked away with a resultant no deal.
Will you still be the same happy and united 27 when you watch the utter devastation that will befall many of your economies of member states (and that iincludes the Netherlands whose fishing industry will be all but finished.)
Will you still jest about ''you need us more than we need you.

Well, all I can say to your comment is that least as a full sovereign independent country once again, we can at least pick ourselves up, brush ourselves down, take a good look around in a post pandemic era, and start from scratch.

You however, cannot. As a united front, one hurts, 26 hurt, one's economy starts tanking, 26 take the strain, haemorraging bale out money, whilst all the time your own economies are becoming basket cases with the colossol loss of British business in all sectors.

All this because of not accepting that the UK had left and you decided to act like a schoolyard load of bullies with our non-cooperation and your obsessive need to show each other and the world how you, the great European Union, deal with a respectable country and neighbur, the UK, because we had the audacity to want to leave your club and go it alone as we have done for centuries.Just look at what it may cost you

Perhaps it is time to remind you that every one of your EU countries have been prisoners of each other and others during one time or another, whereas the United Kingdom has never been a prisoner to any country for centuries. We have never fitted comfortably in the EU because we have never been able to accept being 'owned' by anyone. Enuf said!

We shall just have to wait and see.
Just a thought.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

I think the scots and irish might disagree with you. The real irish are already members of the EU, the scots would love to, too, but are still under england's thumb.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

The EU was a creation necessitated for the needs of the 20th Century as a competitor/response to other relevant empirical expansions. It has served it's purpose and is no longer relevant. Am amazed that an intelligent observer such as you, Solasch, can't see that.

This is not about the relatively irrelevant (in historical terms) departure of one of the member states, but more about a global shift towards a new world order, albeit undefined at present. Why argue about a couple of keys of a piano keyboard when the whole 88 provide the real nature of the sonata? After all, the UK has a population of circa 60million out of a global population of circa 7.8billion, which is a bit under 0.8%.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

I agree, the EU was formed to keep european countries going for each other's throats in a new war. It succeeded in that. The breaking up of the ussr and the subsequent fighting between groups in former jougoslavia showed it was still an effective approach.

At present we see that wars are fought on the economic battlefield. On that field individual european countries would be cannon fodder for usa, china and india. Now the EU is the strongest trading bloc in the world.
The UK is going it alone after brexit. Perhaps the EU can repay the favour from the oldfashioned ww1 and 2 by saving the UK economically in the near future?

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

One thing that seems particularly apparent over the last few months is just how fragile the global economic model appears to be, and it might come to pass that somehow the world moves aways from it, although I have absolutely no idea towards what!!!!

Without getting into the usual tittle tattle of who benefits the most/lease from what, on a grander scale maybe Brexit will act as a necessary catalyst towards a better world order.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

I see our "friend" Solasch is still trying it on with his oft quoted line "the EU is the strongest trading bloc in the world".

Let's look at this a little deeper shall we?

A friend and I were discussing just this over coffee this morning (socially distanced of course) and this is more or less what we decided:

The EU is claiming approx 15% of all global trade, but that's an illusion. For starters the UK is counted in this so, come 01 Jan 2021, the EU will only have around 10% of global trade. Wow! you might think this is good innit? BUT, you would be wrong because the EU has said >51% of their global trade does not really exist - it's all an illusion; smoke and mirrors if you like. It's just a monetary merry-go-round.

Of the <5% of global trade that the EU actually carries out, you have to take away the Rotterdam and the Irish effect as these are counted as imports and exports multiple times as they pass from member state to member state.

The UK, who actually does 5% of global world trade does more international trade than the whole of the EU27 and has a larger market.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

Spot on Percy !

It also continuously bails out it agriculture industry through the CAP.

And their single market isn't finished either because it doesn't include services.

The EU trades with itself.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

Splitting Hairs has on place, to a bald geezer, sifting through historic stuff has no purpose, unless you were on the receiving end of something.probably.

Re: Were We Ever A Member Of The EU ?? Part One.

You're catching on, aren't you? We call it the single market. The UK before the referendum was promised by johnson, commungs and other liars, that after brexit they would stay in it. Now they realised it is impossible, it suddenly is proclaimed as a goal of brexit. Sad really.