[cr1895]

Yes, it most definitely is part of Europe, and it is currently still part of the European Union too.

[NoirDesir]

Member of the European Union, not member of the Schengen Area... UK has always been whimsical and not reflecting the "European" values... thus, UK is not Europe.

They're free to run things the way they like, but please don't keep telling that UK is Europe... especially after they chose and got the Brexit... not a single true european will endorse its mistakes.

[cr1895]

Brexit is solely related to UK membership within the European Union. It is wrong to conflate being a part of Europe with being a part of the European Union.

Throughout history the ties between what is now the UK and what is now continental Europe are deep and inseparably intertwined (both culturally and geographically); it is absurd to to claim that the UK is "always whimsical" (whatever that means) and does not reflect "true" European values, whatever those may be. Look even closer within the UK and the Republic of Ireland...how is one European and the other not?!

The UK is and will foverver be part of Europe, period. This has no bearing on your opinion of who is or is not a "true European."

[cr1895]

Too late to edit, but continental -> contiguous. UK is already continental Europe; they're on the same plate.

[grzm]

The common understanding of continental Europe does exclude the U.K.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Europe

[cr1895]

Ah ok, thanks for the clarification. I was thinking in terms of Alaska vs the rest of the US.

[strictnein]

> "not a single true european will endorse its mistakes"

But how will a true Scotsman feel about it?

[throwaway2048]

the soviet union and eastern block were europe too, stop creating absurd distinctions.

[jacquesm]

Europe -> the EU, not Europe, the landmass.

[cr1895]

So is Europe -> Eurozone? Is EU -> Eurozone? Is Schengen -> EU?

These are all quite clearly defined. Some (many?) may think that the EU is the same as Europe, but this is plainly false.

[throwaway2048]

The EU is the EU, europe already has a definition, trying to conflate it with the European Union for ideological reasons is stupid.

[ng12]

I would never in my life read the word Europe and think of the EU first.

[jacquesm]

And when you hear 'America' you never think of the USA either?

[ng12]

The two are not equivalent. America is shorthand for the United States of. Mexico is short for Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Europe is a geographically defined continent.

If I were in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Serbia, Macedonia, or the Ukraine would it not be appropriate to say I was in Europe?

[cr1895]

Consider that the only country within the North/Central/South American land masses explicitly having America as part of its name is the United States of America. It makes a lot of sense really considering the global dominance of the USA relative to its neighbors that "America" is colloquially understood to refer to the USA, and not Canada, or Panama, or all of South America.

[jacquesm]

The UK is a pain for Europeans to get into. It's trying very hard to be USA light when it comes to immigration.

[cr1895]

This has everything to do with the UK not being in the Schengen area, and nothing to do with it being in the EU or Europe at large.

[peteretep]

With an EU passport, one uses the same queues as Brits to get into the country.

[jacquesm]

Yes, and it takes forever. At least it did the last time I came to the UK (Dec 2015). The line started well into the hallway, a hundred meters or so before the counter.

[peteretep]

So you think it's a pain for Europeans to get into the UK because they're treated like UK citizens.

[jacquesm]

No, it's a pain for everybody and I'm not a masochist.

What the UK wants to do to its own citizens is their problem, they can vote to change it.