Archive for the ‘European Union’ Category

Patriots are Europeans! Eurocrat’s shock claim comparing nationalism to alcoholism – Express.co.uk

The first Vice-President of the European Commission made the shocking claim in a video discussing the risks of nationalism.

Mr Timmermans said: "Nationalism is like alcoholism: a short period of exaltation followed by a long period of headaches.

"If nationalism makes us poor, weak and morally insecure, how can it claim to be patriotic?To be a patriot is to be European, to be European is to be a patriot."

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The footage was released to commemorate the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes which the EU celebrates annually in August.

He continued: "A true patriot is proud of his nation, wants it to be strong, peaceful, prosperous and values-based.

"To achieve that, a true patriot knows he needs unity, he wants openness, he craves cooperation with others. he sees the strength found in compromise, debate, and unity."

The European Union is currently facing growing dissent from member states.

Euroscepticism has spread throughout the union, with parties starting to question the functionality of the European Union.

In France, presidential candidate Marine Le Pen gained 33.9% of the popular vote running on a deeply anti-EU platform.

Italian Five Star Movement (M5S) is currently polling at 27.6% against ruling Democratic Party (PD)'s 26.9% ahead of the 2018 general elections.

The party has been very vocal in its critic of the European Union, especially in regards to matters concerning the Euro and the migrant crisis.

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Patriots are Europeans! Eurocrat's shock claim comparing nationalism to alcoholism - Express.co.uk

Casino campaign hires firm behind European Union exit effort – News & Observer

Casino campaign hires firm behind European Union exit effort
News & Observer
A campaign to persuade voters to approve a southern Maine casino has reported getting assistance from a firm that helped persuade British voters to withdraw from the European Union. Progress for Maine PAC has reported paying more than $80,000 to ...

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Casino campaign hires firm behind European Union exit effort - News & Observer

Eritrea gets new European Union head of delegation – africanews


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Eritrea gets new European Union head of delegation
africanews
As head of the EU delegation, Carbo will also be the ambassador of the continental bloc in the Horn of Africa country. His previous appointment was in Benin where he held the same position. The EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, in a ...

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Eritrea gets new European Union head of delegation - africanews

In error, Britain tells dozens of EU citizens to leave – Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday said it had sent dozens of letters telling European Union nationals to leave the country in error, an embarrassing mistake as the issue of the rights of such citizens in the UK is being negotiated.

Britain's interior ministry said it was investigating after around 100 of the letters were sent to citizens from other European Union countries, saying they would be removed under immigration law.

"A limited number of letters were issued in error and we have been urgently looking into why this happened. We are contacting everyone who received this letter to clarify that they can disregard it," a spokeswoman for the Britain's Home Office said in a statement.

"We are absolutely clear that the rights of EU nationals living in the UK remain unchanged."

Eva Johanna Holmberg, a Finnish academic who is married to a Briton, told The Independent newspaper that she "couldn't believe what she was seeing" when she received the letter.

While Britain has promised a generous deal for EU citizens following Brexit, there is not yet agreement over how rights will be protected.

The rights of EU citizens in Britain is one of three issues the bloc wants to settle before it begins discussing the future relationship between Britain and the EU. The EU says more progress on those core issues needs to be made before talks move on.

Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg

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In error, Britain tells dozens of EU citizens to leave - Reuters

Eurozone EXODUS – Economists reveal THIS is how easy it is to quit EU’s failing currency – Express.co.uk

Using a hypothetical Finnish exit of the eurozone, the report detailed the surprisingly low cost of quitting the euro and highlighted the benefits of having a domestic currency.

And economists suggested the best way to leave the euro would be if a members joined together in secret to ambush the European Union and quit en masse, which would prevent spiteful punishment.

Although the reports authors stressed it was politically neutral - adding it was neither advocating or discouraging an exit but merely highlighting the need to investigate the issue - it nonetheless threw light on the positives of leaving the eurozone.

The report, entitled How to leave the eurozone: The Case for Finland, said an exit could lead to noticeable benefits for the country.

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They began by stating the cost of quitting the Eurozone need not be very large, perhaps just 9.1billion (10bn), and urged EU members to weigh the short-term costs of an exit again the possible long-term benefits of having a domestic currency.

And they said having their own currency would improve the democratic control of the country.

The report, put together by seven Finnish economists, said: After the Greek crisis in the Summer of 2015, it has been silently acknowledged that a country can abandon the euro.

[In some areas] countries have had persistent problems with the implementation of structural measures, e.g., improving economic structures, and fiscal and other economic policies.

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A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices

In the long run, Finlands exit from the euro could lead to noticeable benefits

Report

Previous studies into countries quitting currency unions, they said, found exits have not produced any noticeable short-term fluctuations in key economic variables including GDP, investments and government budgets.

The report continued: In the long run, Finlands exit from the euro could lead to noticeable benefits. If redenomination was successful, her foreign net position could, over time, improve considerably.

Finlands euro membership has provided Finnish small and medium sized businesses access to European goods and financial markets without exchange rate risk. Still, there is no point in denying the benefits Finland and her companies would gain from a rapid adjustment to relative cost shocks through its own floating currency.

The benefits of not being a part of the euro area also include stepping out from the tendency toward increasing political federalism and reclaiming democratic control over domestic affairs."

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If multiple countries quit the currency together, this would reduce the shared impact and also diminish the extent to which the EU could punish countries who dared to cut ties, the authors said.

The report said: Countries and country groups sufficiently large to destabilise the EU are likely to be provided with the option of continued access to joint systems.

Small countries may not be offered such terms, particularly if lessons need to be taught to dissuade followers.

[But] legally, there is no clause in European treaties allowing the expulsion of a country from the EU or the EMU.

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The report concluded by urging the Finnish government, along with other EU governments, to seriously look into quitting the eurozone - if only to be suitably prepared in the case of an inevitable collapse.

It said: The intention of this report is not to argue whether Finland should continue her membership in the euro. We have envisaged one possible path out of the euro, which may be considered an alternative to the ever louder calls for further integration. It is also a sign of great ignorance to say that political constructions like the euro cannot fail. At some point, they always will, and political moods dictating their fate can change surprisingly quickly, as we have seen recently.

Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. After the near miss exit of Greece, this should be the guiding principle of every member of the European common currency. If (when) the breakup or exit of a country or countries from the euro occurs, those not prepared will be the hardest hit. The authors of this report hope that Finland will not be among them.

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Eurozone EXODUS - Economists reveal THIS is how easy it is to quit EU's failing currency - Express.co.uk