So will we now have to call him Master Alternate Culture Heattreated Fermented Milk?

[ReaperFett]

http://www.westgaz.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=105395&command=displayContent&sourceNode=105394&contentPK=7763135


Those crazy bureaucrats :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

w.t.f.

:huh

They're crazy.

[Charley]

Score another win for those wonderful geniuses in the European Union. What will they think of (ruin) next?

[ReaperFett]

Ah come on, you know Euro politics is more entertaining. Take the House of Commons - comedy GOLD!

And Europe, in it's little world. Know how we find daft laws online, and laugh at them? In Europe they laugh, then enforce it :)

[Charley]

England != EU

While quirky and mildly whimsical, you are not bat-guano insane like the rest of the continent seems to be.

This level of anal-retentive organization can only be the work of Germans. WAY TO GO.

[ReaperFett]

England are EU :)

[Tear]

People with too much time on their hands..

[Marcus Telcontar]

From an Aussie POV, USA and the Euros are just as mad as each other with PC.

That's not to say that there are a bunch of idiots here that are as bad or worse -_-

[Charley]

Originally posted by ReaperFett
England are EU :)

Since when? :huh

[Master Yoghurt]

Unbelievable. Although, there are plenty of moron EU buereaucrats, this goes off the scale on the absurdometer

[ReaperFett]

Since 1973 Charley :)

[Charley]

Originally posted by ReaperFett
Since 1973 Charley :)

no.

EDIT: Well I'll eat crow for this. Seems I'm wrong. Or somehow, the EU site has screwed up. I wasn't aware of any EU legislation prior to 1992's Treaty of Maastricht, so I'm a bit in the dark on this. Well played.

[Master Yoghurt]

Originally posted by ReaperFett
Since 1973 Charley :)

Actually, before the EU there was the EC and the Rome treaty

[Charley]

Apparently, Europe's taken to calling everything that Europe did after WW2 the EU. I am trying to find a straight answer on when the EU actually came into existence, or whatnot. Its vexing.

[Master Yoghurt]

The EU relates to the Maastricht treaty, thats 1992.

Edit: The European Community established through the Rome treaty, was about 1973, which I am sure is what Fett is referring to.

[ReaperFett]

I'm referring to what the EU website tells me :)

[Master Yoghurt]

Maybe so, but its still not an accurate statement. Comparing EC and the EU is like comparing apples and oranges. They are both fruits, but still different. What you could say, EU is an extension of what was known the EC.

[imported_Terran Starek]

Comparing the EC to the EU is like comparing the League of Nations to the United Nations. Not the same thing. :) The EC was more or less an identity, whereas the EU is an established, political institution. Though, the EC probably had about as much influence (if not more) as the big joke that was the League of Nations!!

I'm working on a paper about the EU currently, so this thread was well timed and caught me off guard!

[Marcus Telcontar]

AFAIK, the EC was more of an economic community, ie it was orginally more of a trading bloc than a formailsed political process. So in truth, the EC / EU has been around informally since after WWII and began to be formalised in 1973 into the EC, then 1992 into the EU which has more power than just economic policy.

For all the silly decisions out of Brussels, the EU does work pretty well, much better than the UN ever will. Unless somethign goes seriously pear shaped, your probably going to find Europe becoming one political identity in name and reality.

[imported_Terran Starek]

Agreed. I think we have yet to see a real crisis, though. Economically, the EU is blossoming very nicely. Afterall, the euro and the dollar fight for lead of the world's money markets now (with the euro leading as of the latest report, I believe).

But, like the UN, I'm very interested to see how the EU--as a whole--functions if a conflict arises. We can plainly see the weaknesses of the UN in time when decisive, serious action must be taken. Part of me says the EU will be no different. The difference, of course, is in principle. I could talk about this forever, so I'm gonna stop! :D

We'll see how much of that nice peaceful money turns into guns and soldiers when the gloves come off. :)

[ReaperFett]

Originally posted by Marcus Elessar
For all the silly decisions out of Brussels, the EU does work pretty well, much better than the UN ever will. Unless somethign goes seriously pear shaped, your probably going to find Europe becoming one political identity in name and reality.
Despite being terribly corruption ridden, I do agree to a point. But they do come up with some dumb laws :D

[Charley]

Uh, I did a paper on the EU's monetary policy, and I'm not really convinced that it's such a hot idea. Whatever strong gains the Euro posted initially have lagged now, and the recession of the past 3 years hasn't helped either.

[imported_Terran Starek]

As a whole on paper, yeah, there have been some bumps. But for many of the EU member contries, they've experienced markedly improved growth. The lure of the EU is strong--that's why countries essentially compete to become part of it. For some countries, it's a huge economic boost.

[Charley]

its only a boost in name, though. Deregulation on that level is going to be tough for certain nations, especially Germany. It'll be really interesting to watch how the Euro bank deals with the high level of default on some of these risky funding operations.

[imported_Terran Starek]

That's very true. Right now, it might be a bit too free, but I guess we'll see. For countries like Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, etc. that are getting in in 2004, it gives them a bit of leverage in terms of a shared ecomony and shared power.

But, like I said before, when more and more countries join, I'll be very interested to see how the EU reacts when a physical conflict arises. That'll be the true test, if you ask me. :)

[Marcus Telcontar]

Well, given how much more conencted the states of Europe are now, probably markedly different to the past. The present level of co-operation say between France and Germany is simply unheard of for centuries - it is becoming harder and harder to think how a war could start inside the EU. Outside.... yeah that'll be interesting. Really depend on what France / Germany decide to do.

But all that's guessing in the end, the EU certainly has changed things

[Charley]

Europeans don't wage war :rolleyes, only imperialist American cowboys do!

Europeans settle their differences with intelligent discussion, as we all know ;)

(Pre-emptive "nuke them first" option :))

[imported_Terran Starek]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

"Reginald, I disagree!" (random Family Guy reference) :D