as an american, i'm curious as to exactly what this means. what does this entitle? it can't be an economic thing, being that britian and czech rep. for instance are a part of the eurpean union yet don't go by the euro.


really, I don't know what the european union means and I'm curious. members, please do share..... and I don't want political rhetoric because i can find that on the internet easily. I just want to know from member what this really means. what does a country benefit from being a part of the EU? being aligned with france? I think not

Living in the EU means that you can travel between the countries without a passport. It's easy to get a job and to study in another EU-country. The laws in the countries are being synchronized, so that EU-laws become national laws.

EU-politics are more important than national politics and the union is in fact very much an "economic thing" since the Euro is the currency in most countries...

Wow typical red-neck arrogance. What's wrong with the French?????
Just cos they saw sense in not invading a country that had nothing to do with terrorism. Which compared to our governments, (I'm British) makes you sound really arrogant and i'm sorry if I offend you but I wouldn't reccommend coming to Europe with that attitude because it'll hinder your chances of people thinking that you are actually educated.

Now go off and read The Economist and get an actual opinion or maybe just a fucking IQ.

The EU isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Sure there's some benefits, like traveling without a passport (although I still need an ID card, which is close to a passport) but there's a lot of downsides as well.
For instance, the countries that are part of the EU pay to the EU, which is only fair.
But there's no standard for how it's calculated what each country pays.
For instance, the Netherlands always payed the most of all countries who are part of the EU, while countries like Spain are way bigger, France too.
The EU laws are sometimes very rediculous, and are contradicting national laws.
So which is valid?
Also, the EU will decide how much money will go to (lets say) farming.
It can be much much lower than what they used to get, so farmers will loose their businesses.
The EU said that countries should chip in if they want to prevent that, but if (lets say) The Netherlands already pays over one billion to the EU (which we did for years), where would we get the money to pay our farmers?
Also the EU keeps expanding the EU with countries that either are too poor to pay and will only collect (Latvia etc.) or are really Asian countries (Turkey is over 80% Asian geographically and is violating EU laws like death penalty) but they're still allowed to join, whilst countries that have been EU for ages (like The Netherlands) are being pushed to vote "yes" for one EU law (which sucked, so I voted "no") or should pay more to make sure those other countries can join.
Remeber the foot and mouth disease?
Because the EU didn't want farmers to vaccinate their cattle, millions of cattle had to be put down, it's rediculous.
Especially since The Netherlands imports their meat from Argentina (the Dutch meat is for sales only) and that meat HAS been vaccinated, and has been for years.
It's just rediculous how some laws work.
Add to that that France still wants the EU to hold residence in Straatsburg once a month, and not permanently in Brussels.
That whole thing costs €200.000.000 each year ($256.244 .000) and guess who pays for that?
Yup, the EU people.
Yeah, the EU is grand!

The EU isn't per se related to whether or not you run on pounds or other currency. The purposes of the EU go well beyond that. As an american, take a look at how unified states run in the US and you have a somewhat better understanding of why the EU was created and what benefits it hopes to bring. That's not to say it's perfect, as some here have pointed out, but it does create some benefit.

Some of those benefits are to be:

argirculture standards/farming/fishing
creates a larger pot of common monies that can be used to subsidize or helping smaller EU members to grow and become more viable (Ireland as an example)
more standardized laws (such as human rights laws, worker laws, et al)

To simplify it down to the currency is to miss the picture. A more unified European front allows them to be far more competitive in the world market, and frankly, gives the US a real run for it's money. You have a lot of US based companies now tranfering their business over to the EU.

Are there downsides? of course. The issue of who pays what and who gets what is similar to what the states haggle over in the US. The larger pot of federal monies gets split about the states to fund education, roads, you name it. And who gets what doesn't always seem right. The EU faces the same battle.

Time will tell, as it does for anything. However, it is amazing to see how the EU has allowed for people to move and work in countries where perhaps their particular skills are more suited. And for individuals, that may prove to be the most important thing.

My understanding is that Turkey is not yet a memeber of the EU because of their HR violations and in fact that's motivated them to start addressing those issues? Is that maybe not a good thing if the desire to be a part of the EU causes countries to rethink those kinds of issues?

Haha I remember the sentence I memorised for my A Level German oral:

"People from EU-memberstates have the right to live, work and study in any other memberstates."

Cee agricultural Standardization isnt a benefits, farmers , fishermans are suffering from it,only the big ones stand up, where did you get that from? and to give Ireland as an example is the most erronic thing you could do.

Um, you may want to read up a wee bit on american history as you'd find that the US and the French have always had a more than tense relationship that goes back way before this war in Iraq bullshit. French and Indian war anyone?

And frankly, since I spend a solid chunk of my time in the UK, I've heard more than a bit of serious french slagging going on.

Are these comments to mean that the brits are idiots or does it come from a long standing cultural clash with the french that is so old most people can't for certain say where it comes from? (maybe the fact that both sides have invaded and pillaged one another more times than you can count)

So yes, sorry guv, you're going to meet americans who have a deep routed dislike of the french because we have a history that created a serious lack of trust there. Statue of Liberty or not, the US and the French are allies, but we don't per se like one another.

Ignorant? Maybe. But I can think of a hundred British pubs where I've heard far worse.

maybe give a little type on Google and come up with some numbers for yourself creez?

It's not yet a member indeed, and I hope it stays that way.
Before you know it Korea will be joining too.
And it would be better if Turkey just woke up one morning and decided FOR THEMSELVES that they want to stop enforcing the death penalty.
Now they're only doing it to joi the EU and to get money out of it.
Do you think that if the EU decides "Well, youre an Asian country, you're not gonna be added" they won't keep doing it?
If a country is geographically 80% Asian, it's not a European country, so why would it get into the EU?
And how much will they pay?
How much will they get?
It's all about money for Turkey, money that The Netherlands will help raise for them.
If the EU was a REAL democratic thing, they would not only let the politicians from countries, but the PEOPLE from the countries have their say about who can join and who can't.
Because seriously, what is the use for all the baltic states and Turkey and other poor countries joining?
It only costs the richer countries money, and causes farmers and such to get less money, which makes them go bankrupt.
The EU doesn't bring a lot of good if you're a richer country.
All you do is pay, your laws get screwed up and overturned by the EU while other laws make things more complicated.

I agree VP. I don’t think those nasty brown people should be given the right to benefit from a super state. I mean it’s not as though they could offer us anything is it?
Keep it white.
Keep it Christian.
Keep all the money for ourselves.

Global village? Nah…. not for the Netherlands.

Wow, please quote me where I said that.
It's so easy to assume it's a race thing isn't it?
Easier than asking someone why they feel the way they do.
If you had bothered to ask, I would have said this:

I feel this way because many of my friends are either farmers or fishermen/women or they work in the food industry, since I live in the farming part of the Netherlands.
A lot of them are loosing their jobs, or already have, and only becuase the EU is giving the money that used to go to the Netherlands to other (poorer) countries that have in recent years joined the EU.
Why is it, that when new countries join the EU, the other countries have to suffer?
Why should my friends loose jobs, because the EU thinks they've done enough?
What the EU did, is make people/companies dependant on the EU money, and now when they see it fit, the EU just gives it to other countries.
That's not right.
As long as you still have countries that need your money, you can't accept other countries that need it too into your club, simple as that.
You can't fill one hole by opening up another, everyone can see that.
For years now, the EU has cut funding for farmers and fishermen, new laws and restrictions have been created, and at some point, farmers and fishers will suffer.
But let's ignore them, let's get more countries to join the EU, let's give them the money and turn a blind eye to the folks that for years have helped pay the huge bill that the EU sends the Netherlands each year.
But you're right, it's all about race.
That's why I included the Baltic States into my post, because those are all "nasty brown people".
And as for Turkey, if it's not a European country, how can it join the EU?
You do realise the E in EU means European right?

Jumping to conclusions will only make you look like an ass.

Pim Fortuyn forever - eh VP?

With that remark, you showed your age and IQ, thanks.
All I needed to know.

Oh my god - Hoppingdeth in progressive comment shocker!

that surly waht you did.how could you be inform? you watch the americans news?? hahaha

Well Ireland remains one of the most heavily subsidised EU nations on the planet – so I guess it’s been pretty good for them. Without it their own people may have not continued to be their biggest export.

Well my satanic corporate shares depend on it.

So does my job. Well, it makes it significantly easier.

EU = Kantian paradice. Exalted but troooo.