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by renaudg
3267 days ago
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The unthinkability of war between its members (a millenial problem, solved for 70 years now), for starters ? Addressing inherently regional/global issues like environmental ones at the appropriate level ? Having the clout of a 300 million people market in trade negotiations with China/India/the US ? Gigantic economies of scale through common legislative work and a single set of consumer/safety regulations for companies to follow across a huge addressable market ? "greater (bilateral) cooperation" just won't give you that. Creating a higher entity is the only way that makes sense past a certain level of complexity. The "not in its current form" argument in EU discussions is a classic one (a similar rhetorical device to "I'm not racist but..") The truth is that while no organisation is perfect (is Westminster perfect?), and with the assumption (a difficult one to make these days) that you are actually aware of how the EU works, there are a very few other forms than the current one the EU could have ended up in. |
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A problem solved by NATO and the OSCE. The EU is far from the only organisation with widespread European membership. Here are three of the most important non-EU organisations that affect policy in Europe:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_for_Security_an...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO
It's worth remembering that the EU only really found it's current form in 1992. There were earlier agreements that formed the basis of the EU, but it changed considerably after the Maastricht Treaty.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht_Treaty
> "The "not in its current form" argument in EU discussions is a classic one (a similar rhetorical device to "I'm not racist but..")"
Only for the lazy. I simply don't agree with how the EU is run. I'd much rather stay as a member of the Council of Europe than any group that dictates fiscal policy. You can see how well that's worked out for the Greeks, burdened with debts they can't pay for the benefit of European bankers (the bailouts were a bait and switch move, the Greeks got a small percentage of the total funds). The EU will become increasingly focused around the Eurozone, and policies that suit the Eurozone. We may lose some financial benefits from leaving the EU now, but it'd be far harder to leave as time went on, and more power was centralised in Brussels.