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Originally posted by DrUg_Tit0 Hey, hey, hey, you forgot someone! Croatia is gonna come in at that time too! And my banana is bigger than any of yours!

Haha, sorry about that Tito, I'm losing track too many countries man. I want to ask you what do you see as the benefits for Croatia in the E.U. and as far as policies eminating from Brussels as opposed to Zagreb or vice versa and its impact for Croatia when examining the E.U. today.

I'm just not sold on the E.U. as yet because too many nations all want to improve themselves first and foremost. If I was Croatian I want my share just like Ireland, Portugal, Spain but that will not happen if Poland, Czech Republic and the other 8 Eastern European members are any barometer, much less financial help for them. The main thing I see coming from E.U. enlargement is jobs in other E.U. nations, albeit low wage jobs. Saw a piece on broadband from Irish TV the other night of farmworkers from Latvia, Lithuania and Turkey who work in Ireland in the agricultural sector.

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Trance = Heart, Mind, Body and Soul all in 1

Current fav. Global Experience = Madras

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Originally posted by NYCTrancefan Haha, sorry about that Tito, I'm losing track too many countries man. I want to ask you what do you see as the benefits for Croatia in the E.U. and as far as policies eminating from Brussels as opposed to Zagreb or vice versa and its impact for Croatia when examining the E.U. today.

There are several reasons why I would like Croatia to join the EU, so here they go:

1) Foreign aid, although it will be smaller than what Ireland got, I'd still be happy with it.

2) Traveling through the Europe without passports and without getting my ass ripped off by exchange offices. Opening borders is beneficial to tourism as well. Not to mention that it'd be nice to get a job and a house wherever I'd want on the whole continent.

3) Being in such a strong union enables Croatia to have at least a little bit of say in global policies. The future EU army will also provide a good sense of security.

4) Corruption and slacking is a pretty big problem here, as well as a huge amount of bureaucracy. I think foreign institutions acting here could change the general behaviour of people, as their officials would be pretty hard to bribe and would force people to reduce the amount of bureaucracy as well as to make them do some work for a change.

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1+1=10

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Originally posted by DrUg_Tit0 There are several reasons why I would like Croatia to join the EU, so here they go: 1) Foreign aid, although it will be smaller than what Ireland got, I'd still be happy with it. 2) Traveling through the Europe without passports and without getting my ass ripped off by exchange offices. Opening borders is beneficial to tourism as well. Not to mention that it'd be nice to get a job and a house wherever I'd want on the whole continent. 3) Being in such a strong union enables Croatia to have at least a little bit of say in global policies. The future EU army will also provide a good sense of security. 4) Corruption and slacking is a pretty big problem here, as well as a huge amount of bureaucracy. I think foreign institutions acting here could change the general behaviour of people, as their officials would be pretty hard to bribe and would force people to reduce the amount of bureaucracy as well as to make them do some work for a change.

I could see the rationale then certainly on the subjects of travelling within the E.U. and the issue of domestic corruption.

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Trance = Heart, Mind, Body and Soul all in 1

Current fav. Global Experience = Madras

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Originally posted by NYCTrancefan Sorry to burst the bubble guys but the E.U. is going to be one big bloated political body where nations attempt to look out for their own interests and every policy seems to stagnate. What does that remind you of (U.N. anyone). Now they are talking about Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 or 2008, and even Turkey after that, nothing like more cooks to spoil the pot. Ireland is already complaining about eastward expansion because it affects their nice little economic packages that they received for so many years. I hope the E.U. succeeds, but as of right now unless Eastern European standards rise quickly economically that is like Ireland did then look for those nations populations to wonder what the E.U. means for them personally.

as to my understanding, ireland (who is now EU secound richest country) doesn't complain at all. but spain and portugal are complaining, i could have missed something tho...

i really think those new countries will have a major economic growth the coming years. All eastern European countries i have been to have now started to understand what capitalism is all about, and they are really service minded (although i haven't been to that many ). I think they have a great potential, with booth econmic aid from the EU and the free trade possibilities. My guess is that these countries will have a western standard really soon

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It is not the E.U. parliamentarians who drive around in their BMW's and Mercedes but the citizens of the respective E.U. member countries that will have the last say as to whether the E.U. will succeed or fail, if the elections were of any significance its off to a bad start. Domestic issues outweighed any interests about European politics and even Iraq where Herr Schroeder attempted to use it to his advantage with the phrase to Germans about thinking internationally for the Euro elections. Good luck Europe, while I continue my campaign against the Shrub here in America to deny four more years to him, I will eagerly watch from across the Atlantic to see the direction of the E.U.

really, first of all the turnout wasn't all that bad compared to the US. IN the year 2000 congress elections, the turnout was 46.6%, and in the EU elections the turnout was 44.2%. then take into consideration that the parliament really doesn't have any power, 10 countries had been members of the union for two months, it's hard do understand what it is all about then (esp since they are generally quite poor).
also, the EU sceptic parties didn't get *that* big success as it may seem. They didn't get over 10% in the EU as a whole i think, so really imo that is quite insignificant.

It's not necessarily that the E.U. is going to collapse, what I am suggesting however is that domestic issues will alwsys take precedence over any European issue. If I am struggling in the middle of Saarbrǖcken why do I care about what is happening in Malta for example, unless there is a job for me there and I would want to move as well.

My point therefore is first and foremost no matter how the E.U. is pushed upon the populace domestic conditions unless addressed by the E.U. will be the key. After all based on their united position reflecting European opposition to the war in Iraq you would think that the government of France and Germany would have been favorably looked upon, it was anything but that however, domestic issues prevailed resoundingly.

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Trance = Heart, Mind, Body and Soul all in 1

Current fav. Global Experience = Madras