h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

European regulations on the bendiness of bananas ... didn't exist! The regulations existed, but they were laid down by an association of banana-growers, and had nothing to do with the EU. I'm not sure about the diameters of cucumbers.

TRiG.

Without getting drawn into this one too much, a couple of points.

1) The EU is an excellent way for member states to upload and download unpopular legislation. In this way politicians get to point their fingers at the "big, bad EU" and absolve themselves of responsibility. Many silly regulations actually start life in the UK. However, as the EU Parliament can only amend and reject legislation put forward by the EU Commission, politicians being politicians they spend a lot of time amending with tiny unnecessary details. Then when this cumbersome legislation hits the member state's parliaments, another bunch of politicians have to add their tuppence-worth to justify their existence. Britain is especially bad at "Gold-plating" EU Directives - possibly because so many UK politicians have a vested interest in being seen to oppose/support all things EU.

2) The second thing to remember is the EU is a trading block. For trade to be efficient, the rules must be equally applied and no single member state should face any undue barriers to market. In the early days of the EU - Germany paid France to modernise it's agriculture so that Germans could buy food from France in exchange for manufactured products (a lot of tractors initially). As the EU has expanded and taken on poorer nations, it has spent huge sums modernising the infrastructure in the new member state. Not for any altruistic reasons, but to physically open up the markets to trucks and trains. Places like Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, Southern Italy used to be terribly isolated outposts but EU investment provided a modern infrastructure. However, as the EU has continued to expand, it has taken on a lot of even poorer countries which, under socialistic governments, had absolutely apalling roads, electricity networks etc. These countries continue to absorb huge sums of money but one day they will become equal trading partners and will start generating money. But the days of significant EU investment in Britain and Ireland are long gone I'm afraid and all of the original states face quite a long future of putting more money into the EU than comes back in the shape of investment.

Turkey and Serbia are eager to join the EU, anticipating the billions of Euros that will flow in to modernise their countries.

I agree with a lot of what was posted since my last post, and I would also argue that:

1) Many people also don't know the name of their MP, local councillor, parish councillor etc - does that mean these institutions are also not democratic?

2) The main problem for the Cornish fishermen is that there is not enough fish. The quotas simply reflect this reality.

sprout

now we have helped bail ireland out to the tune of £7 Billion,

if and when the euro collapses do we get first dibs on asset stripping the republic????

Try. You won´t get a chance to asset stripping Germany, it´s all been done.

They just pointed out on the radio that the cuts planned for the UK this year are.......7 billion

As there is no more money, presumably we are having to borrow this money..and yet constantly we have parotted to us by the coalition, that we can no longer keep on borrowing money and pay so much interest..because we would er....'end up like Greece'..or shouldn't that now be...'end up like Iike Ireland'?

Effers, it´s not only the amount, it´s the way it gets thrown away.
So, in order to show what European technology can do, we build superduper ITcontrolled traffic lights in Kabul - in a part of town that doesn´t have electricity? No problem, we have made our point and the lights would work if they could. Just a few millions, no worries.