Is the EU a dictatorship?

jeanie where on Earth have you been over the past 3 or so years?

You clearly have been paying no attention whatsoever.

Is the EU a dictatorship?
No, the clue is in the name UNION

What would you like to happen about us leaving?

What are your fears?

What particular problems are worrying you?

What are your worries about the future of your children and grandchildren ?

The EU is the best hope for our children and grandchildren - even if you take the one thing of freedom of movement to live and work in 27 other countries rather than be stuck on a tiny island with decreasing resources and employment - it is worth remaining - without all the other benefits we currently have but are about to lose.

I think a dictatorship has to have a dictator.

No, it isn't.

The EU maintains and improves standards for the environment, food, safety and some investment standards and competition rules. However each country can still make their own laws for other issues such as health, education and taxation.

Some EU decisions have not proved very popular such as standardisation of cucumber, bananas and regulation of competition rules.

I’m sure other gransnetters can think of many other examples. Perhaps the regulation about free movement of people has caused the most anger, especially in the UK.

If the EU was a dictatorship all countries within the union would have to apply the same laws across the whole of the EU. So no, the EU is not a dictatorship.

jeanie99 if you have no interest in politics what on earth do you want a vote for anyway?

Did this absurd accusation come, by any chance, from the Daily Express?

Jeannie don't be silly. Of course not.

Could you tell me what problems you were having prior to the referendum with regards to us being in the EU?

Or did you not realise you were having problems until the Daily Express/Mail/Telegraph etc tell you about them?

standardisation of cucumber, bananas Really?

That standardisation of bananas trope is old and has been discredited. The EU does have standard measures for foodstuffs, and there are laws about food additives etc. It’s no more dictatorial than insisting that a mile is the same in Cornwall as it is in Scotland, or standardising egg sizes, which in the UK predates EU entry.

jeanie the EU's origins were absolutely not as a trade organisation.

The purpose of the three pioneers of the EU: Robert Schumann (France), Kondad Adenauer (Germany) and the often forgotten one, Alcide Gaspari of Italy when they came together in the wake of 2 world wars in 20 years was to find a new way forward towards peace and harmony between European nations.

Apart from the ideas of federation, confederation, or customs union or what Winston Churchill's in 1946 calledr a "United States of Europe", the original development of the European Union was based on a supranational foundation that would "make war unthinkable and materially impossible" and reinforce democracy amongst its members[ as laid out by its leaders in the Schuman Declaration (1950) and the Europe Declaration (1951.

And the European has succeeded in meeting the objectives set out in those early years after WW2. Between 1870 and 1945, 75 years, there were three major European wars. Between 1945 and 2020 there have been none and none are in the offing.

Yes, there have been other wars on the periphery of Europe but none of the major European states have been at war with each other.

The EU is not a dictatorship because it has a freely elected Parliament and any member can walk out at any time (the No deal option). The one country to choose to do this(the UK) has chosen to ease itself out, choosing to enter negotiations in order to have its cake and eat it.

As a remainer I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that No deal is the best option and should have happened at the end of 2016

I'm worried that our farmers will stop looking after the countryside as they do at the moment, once the subsidies stop.

I might be on the wrong thread. Never mind. Still worried.

The EEC of the fifties was all about trade. Isn't that what jeannie is referring to (no matter how "silly" one particular poster seems to think she is being )

Leaving the EU is bound to set us somewhat apart from the rest of Europe. That is worrying.

The EU isn’t a dictatorship every country has a veto that it can use if it feels anything is against its national interest, what it cannot do is choose the parts it likes and discard those it doesn’t, ultimately it is free to leave.
Doesn’t sound like a dictatorship

Ilovecheese
No, the clue is in the word Union
As it is in 'The Soviet Union'

Gonegirl Tue 29-Oct-19 16:25:58 I think the UK is going to subsidise farmers for doing things to preserve the countryside and environment but haven't checked .

Yes petra just as the United States are commonly called a union.

Yes Nonnie, but I do wonder how long it will last before economics take priority.

Gonegirl The EEC, as it was in the 1950s was absolutely not all about trade. The purpose of the EU was from the start, I quote my previous post, was based on a supranational foundation that would "make war unthinkable and materially impossible" and reinforce democracy amongst its members

The EEC nations started to build this co-operation through trade, the war was very recent and there was still an element of distrust between some members and trade was a good neutral ground to start with, but the political aims were always there and formed part of thir discussions and negotiations, but initially these ran quietly because of the reasons given above.