[vertex-four]

As much as I don’t much like the concept of the state, could you please not apply American criticisms of the US Government to all Governments around the world? It makes you look silly - most of Europe have fundamentally different criticisms of their Governments, and especially of the EU.

[theshadowknows]

I would like to learn those criticisms! I believe I read somewhere that most Scandinavians for example trust their government while they may disagree with individual policies. Are EU states similarly trusted on the whole?

[distances]

There's a certain amount of distrust among the populace towards other states if that's what you're asking, though I'd say that depends on how anti-EU the individual is. This seems to be on a steady rise due to the populist movements all around.

And yes I can confirm, in Northern Europe there is a fundamental trust on the government. I, for one, believe that none of our politicians are outright bought; some of them may drive pro-business policies, but from my vantage point the level of cynicism exhibited in this discussion falls squarely to a bucket of loony conspiracy theories.

[olavk]

In my anecdotal experience, people in Eastern Europe (former Warsaw Pact countries) are extremely cynical towards politicians and the political system while Scandinavians in general have a lot of trust in the system even if they mistrust some individual politicians.

In the approach towards regulation, I think the major difference compared to the US is that Europeans mistrust businesses just as much as politicians. GDPR is a result of mistrust in businesses. Stating that politicians are corrupt, as Americans are wont to do, is not really an argument against regulation like GDPR unless you believe businesses never act against the interests of the public.

[kazen44]

most western european nations yes,

in EE, a lot of countries are still dealinig with the intertia of the post-communist goverment and its institutions.