EU’s problems down to hodge-podge of power
Wow that response from KFC was lack lustre and to assume due care wasn’t taken. Where was their due care over the temperature? Any need for it to be that hot? Dustin Hoffman, actor, Connie Stevens, actress and singer, Keith Carradine, actor, Nigel Mansell, former racing driver The Edge rock guitarist Angus Fraser, former cricketer, Chris Eubank, former boxer, Princess Beatrice of York WHO runs Europe? It’s a simple question. But the answer is far from obvious.
A survey would throw up a thousand different answers. Only a few months ago, Emmanuel Macron (pictured) and Angela Merkel were going to reshape Europe. But they forgot to ask everyone else about their plans.
The backlash from around the EU was harsh. Elections swung against europhiles everywhere. Sweden is next. And then the EU itself in May. door on immigration from Africa, Spain has opened the back door. Arrivals in Spain outnumbered Italy for the first time last month. No wonder the Hungarians and Austrians are imposing internal borders. If you have freedom of movement inside the EU, but individual nations set their own immigration policies, there’s bound to be a mess. A mess that can only be addressed at the EU level. Or by closing your internal borders, violating EU rules.
On Brexit, the divide inside the EU is clear too. The EU-level politicians are playing hardball. Their credibility is tied to Brexit being a failure.
Meanwhile, national-level politicians are demanding a decent deal with Britain. Merkel and Italy’s deputy prime minister are the latest to push for an agreement.
Perhaps hedging against the presently stronger possibility of the UK going to WTO trading rules, and the loss of £39 billion on offer for a trading deal that may not be struck, through EUlevel stubbornness.
With Donald Trump’s trade war, it was the opposite. Europe’s national politicians were outraged by Trump’s declarations and threats. Foreign ministers from European nations used the same wording: “We will not negotiate with a gun to our head.” Which is true, because the negotiations took place at the EU level, not the national level. The EU is, after all, a trading bloc. And the EU’s JeanClaude Juncker quickly did a deal.