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pip2's latest comments
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4th Jun 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Being part of the club is relevant. A strong club stays together.ViewDate:
30th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?AprilD8 said this so-many-millions figure we have heard countless times before. How many of those actually support EU but: 1. wanted to say "no to David Cameron"? 2. wanted to "make a protest"? 3. wanted the stay side "not to win by too much"? 4. did it for "a joke"? Yes, really, a joke? I have met people who have said all of 1 2 and 3 to me.ViewDate:
30th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Jentie51 mentioned "the peace that has existed throughout Europe since the formation of the Common Market/European Union". Why is it necessary to be part of the EU for that peace? Why is TrudyLS wrong? Because the peace needs a court. To settle disputes in court. Disputes to do with the cross-border issues that are covered by the agreements. Like protecting wildlife eg Birds Directive. Here's an example. Birds Directive and Malta. That's a dispute that's been going on for at least ten years. Perhaps it's now near to being put right. Instead of the old way. The old way of royal marriages and shifting alliances and the threat of violence. The old way that led to two world wars and the Holocaust. Now we have a shared court. With judges in it from every member country. We have a shared body of law. We have an elected House with real powers. The European Parliament. To bring the people of Europe together. We have an independent group of people to work for Europe as a whole. The European Commission. With people in it from every member country. We have some enforcement of the shared law that's been agreed. With the help of the Commission and the court. There were six founding members. There should have been seven founding members in 1957. The UK should have been one of them. The UK should have been in from the beginning. The Coal and Steel Community set up in 1949. The peace needs a court. Why? To answer questions about the shared body of law. And then, the rulings of the court must be honoured. That's how it works and it seems fair to me. The UK should sign the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The UK should sign the "Treaty on Stability and Governance" and help bring it into EU law. The UK should renounce the United Kingdom Correction and start paying its fair share. Since the UK joined in 1973 (after more than ten years of trying) the UK has been a respected country. The UK is one of the big four. It's time for the UK to be doing everything to support the EU, with its membership of EU.ViewDate:
29th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Is a bad deal better than remaining in the European Union?Jo Slater is mistaken. Germany is a minority in the EU democratic system. It has less than 20% of the total population. It is only one member country. To make most EU law, you need at least 16 out of 28 countries in favour. With at least 65% of the total population. Even the top four countries together don't have enough to make a majority on their own. Some things need a higher level of agreement, or unanimous. And then for most things the European Parliament has to agree as well. 751 seats in the European Parliament. Germany has 96 seats. A minority. And there are different groups. Germany's MEPs sit in the European Parliament in several different groups.ViewDate:
29th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Is a bad deal better than remaining in the European Union?The EU is a peace movement, not something to make your "blood boil". I'm sorry to hear 'Simm01077' thinks that. The point of the EU is to make something that you are happy with. Something you want to support. Does 'Simm01077' overestimate the size of the EU budget? It's no more than 1.23% of Europe's gross national income. Working together on farming. That's one thing the EU is for. Regional development is another one. EU membership means City of London banks are recognised as legal to do work for other banks in other EU countries. EU budget is small compared to that.ViewDate:
29th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Is a bad deal better than remaining in the European Union?Greece has been lent money by the IMF, not just EU. as well as EU. Now Greece wants to pay early. Please see "Greece asks euro zone bailout fund for early IMF loan repayment". Reuters, 22 April 2019. EU membership only covers some things, not everything. For instance: schools, benefits, defence, hospitals, planning permission, television, radio, elections, passports, most tax policy... all the job of each country.ViewDate:
29th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Is a bad deal better than remaining in the European Union?I think you mean the euro currency, Margaret. In 1998, the European Commission said that Greece did not meet any of the four criteria to join the euro currency. Sweden also did not meet all the criteria. In 2000, the Commission said that Greece did meet the criteria. After Greece had made "striking progress". For example, Greek government deficit "was reduced from 10.2% of GDP in 1995 to 1.6% of GDP in 1999, below the 3% reference value". The Commission's report was based on inflation, budgetary situation, exchange rate, long-term interest rates, compatibility of Greece's legislation with the Treaty and the European System of Central Banks Statute, and a report from the European Central Bank. "In 2000 the Council of the European Union decided, on the recommendation of the Commission, and after consulting the European Parliament, that Greece met the conditions to adopt the euro". Please see "Commission proposes Greece to become the twelfth member of the euro-zone".ViewDate:
29th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Will you be voting in the European Elections this month?I am ordinary, not 'the establishment'. The ECJ is only about the shared law. The law that the member countries have made together. This country has signed up to agreements that apply equally in all the other countries too. It has to be fair and consistent. To make a level playing field. It all seems reasonable to me. Of course it takes precedence over national law. That's how it works. Shared European law needs a shared European court. Have a look at the Annual Report of the Court of Justice of the EU for 2018. There are two courts. The lower court hears cases first. The upper court is like an appeal court.ViewDate:
26th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Will you be voting in the European Elections this month?The UK is one of the big four. The South East electoral region for the European Parliament has as many people as the whole of Hungary. Hungary figure for 2014. Source: "How the European Union works", EU Publications Office.ViewDate:
26th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Will you be voting in the European Elections this month?EU anti-dumping measures against things like steel wires from China have helped to protect Europe's steel producers. British Steel's order book will be better when the rest of the world knows that the UK is definitely staying in the EU. Staying in the EU protects British Steel's carbon credits. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme to 2020. Please see the article in The New European on British Steel. 23 May 2019.ViewDate:
26th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Is a bad deal better than remaining in the European Union?So what is the customs union anyway? It's like the skin of a body. It's a group of countries that charge the same for imports from the rest of the world but not each other. It means orange juice from Egypt is charged the same whether it comes in at Trieste in Italy, or Rotterdam in Netherlands, or Folkestone in Kent. Turkey is in the customs union too. But it's not in EU or single market so there are long queues of lorries in Turkey to enter EU members Bulgaria and Greece. Norway is not in the customs union or EU but it is in the single market. There are customs posts between Norway and EU neighbour Sweden. Customs is about keeping dangerous things out as well. When one country sees things like unsafe childrens' toys that don't meet CE standards, all the countries know. This is called the EU Rapid Alert system. Known as RAPEX. To keep track of the total amount of orange juice imported? That's the job of the European Commission.ViewDate:
25th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?What does the European Parliament do? 1. The power to legislate. For most things, both the Council (the 28 national governments) and the European Parliament, must both agree. 2. The power of the purse. The European Parliament accepts or rejects the budget. It has to approve the report of the Court of Auditors. 3. The power of supervision. The presidents of the European Central Bank, and the European Commission, both have to report to the EP. Appointments to the Commission have to face a panel of MEPs before they take their jobs. They're called confirmation hearings. They're public. More like this? "The European Parliament - the Citizens' Voice in the EU". From EU Publications Office. Easy to find online. See also, "The European Union explained - how the European Union works". Also from EU Publications Office. Accurate. Easy to find online. Search for that title.ViewDate:
25th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?My name is Phil Jones, not pip2. So why do you feel the way that you feel?ViewDate:
25th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Thank you MW and how do people in Germany feel when they hear 'Rule Britannia'? Well, a woman in Kassel in Germany told me over pizza in an Italian restaurant, "Rule Britannia gave me the creeps".ViewDate:
25th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?May has been incompetent and has put forward proposals that could never work or be accepted. But the over-the-top language of 'mickb25' just isn't on. It is totally undemocratic to use that kind of language. It is wrong.ViewDate:
25th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?After being ignored by the government for three years it would be nice if they would listen to the people who support EU.ViewDate:
25th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Hey, AprilDB. Enough of the language. That kind of talk has no place in a democracy like ours. Not happy with the UK's EU membership? Sorry to hear it. So tell us why. Maybe we can do something about it. Maybe the thing you're worried about is actually a complete misunderstanding or bad reporting in the press.ViewDate:
25th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?My name is Phil Jones, not pip2. I live in High Wycombe and I will be in High Wycombe high street at 2 pm on Sunday 2 June. Look for the EU flags everywhere :-) I'm really sorry to hear that from pier8 or whatever his or her real name is. The European Union is about doing things at the lowest possible level. Only the minimum. Only where it makes sense to work together. The only powers the EU has, are given to it by its members. You know, it's such a tragic attitude of pier8, isn't it? This country has signed up to work together with our friends, neighbours and allies. That's what the EU is for. Directives are agreed democratically. By the member countries. Every one published. With how it has been made. Every one saying why it is there. Always for a good reason. All of it talked about in the European Parliament. That's what we're electing people to do. Good people like Catherine Bearder, Richard Corbett, and Molly Scott-Cato, and Seb Dance. Who I have met. And directives are up to each country to choose how to implement for itself. That's why EU law is small compared to national law. Yes the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive is a pretty big piece of work. But that's small, compared to things like the "British tax code" that's an "incredible 17,000 pages long" (source: The Guardian). People like Donald Tusk have been patient. Stoic. Even *kind*. Because of the predicament of this country. And then you have people like pier8 thinking the EU is somehow like revolutionary communist China that starved its own people to death and murdered dissidents. How many famines has the EU caused? How many political prisoners has the EU got? The EU supports human rights and freedom and justice and food security and environment. The comparison from 'pier8' is offensive, obscene, pitiful, sad. Does pier8 realise that the rest of the world can read English? How do you think people in Germany who I have met and who send me supportive emails feel? What's off-the-scale odd about the pier8 comment is it's saying it's somehow wrong to know something about what you're talking about? I've done is some basic research and somehow that is bad? Where do you go from there? There are quite a few EU regulations and stuff? Well, surprise, helping to run a continent is a big job. The single market, for instance. "By far the deepest, most advanced, there's nothing else like it on the planet". That's what Michael Dougan of the University of Liverpool has said. But have I quoted "chapter and verse" on every one? Of course not. What a strange comment?ViewDate:
24th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Thank you ARG. The Council of Europe was set up in 1949 by the UK and nine other countries. It's the parent of today's EU. The Council of Europe is still around and it's a non-EU body. The Council of Europe runs the European Court of Human Rights. Because the ECHR is non-EU, the EU has its own. It's called the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.ViewDate:
24th May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?The EU has been patient. Principled. Organised. More care for this country. And Ireland. The European Union is a legal organisation. The integrity of EU law must be protected. That is entirely reasonable. It has taken sixty years to build. I have been studying EU law in my own time for three years.ViewDate:
23rd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Voting Lib Dem today because a vote for Europe is a vote for the rule of law. Everything to do with the EU is based on the rule of law. All must be equal in the eyes of the law. That's vital to a free and fair society. Free movement of people within EU has been good for the UK. Being in EU gives you rights and opportunities. My oldest stepchild is now 13. In just three years she'll be able to register to vote. I want her to have the same chances as all the other boys and girls her age in all the other EU countries. I have friends in France, in Sweden. My golf friend is married to a woman from Bulgaria. At Pulse of Europe in High Wycombe I have friends from Germany, Italy... This is modern Europe. John Major said it was a moral duty to bring the central and eastern European countries in because they had suffered under Communism for so long. We used to have the generals in Greece, dictatorship in Spain, dictatorship in Portugal, the Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall. Now we have 28 democracies working together. I'm voting for Lib Dems. Whoever you choose, choose Europe.ViewDate:
23rd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?You drove through Germany? Did you set up a business? Did you vote and stand in local and European elections? Did you run into trouble with the law? Did you get consistent legal protections in that case? Were your family able to join you while you were employed in Germany? Were you able to take a case to the Court of Justice of the EU while you were in Germany about your privacy rights? Were you protected against discrimination so you had the right to be treated equally while you were in Germany? Could you take your money with you? How easily could you compare prices across borders? How much did you spend on changing money? Did you run a haulage business? Did you benefit from not having to list everything in the lorry? But open borders inside Europe are not at the expense of security.ViewDate:
23rd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?The Tory MP for Wycombe has shown his disregard for me. I wanted to stay in the EU in 2016 and even more so now. Voting Lib Dem to safeguard our future and our neighbours.ViewDate:
23rd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?The EU publishes everything agreed. That's what the Official Journal of the European Union is for. Published in the sight of the world. That's how to build trust. As for sovereignty... being in the European Union of course affects your sovereignty. For instance, government ministers have agreed democratically a ban on gold from North Korea's banks. But the point is that sovereignty is not lost, it is transferred. Whose law says that British people who live in Spain and work in Gibraltar must be able to cross the border freely? Not British law. British law doesn't apply in Spain. That's why we have EU law. It's a good thing. How do you give the EU new powers? Every national leader and every national parliament must agree. The EU is only about the things that are cross-border or can only be best done together. Like the fight against illegal fishing. Everything else, like schools, and planning permission, and the benefit system... is all the job of each country. Please see "How the European Union works" from EU Publications Office.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?The EU is democratic. That's why I love EU. How'd you make EU law? Here's an example. Make a directive to improve security on flights by recording passengers' names. 1) National leaders sign to make it possible. 2) National parliaments approve what the national leaders sign. 3) European Commission proposes. 4) European Parliament amend/reject/approve. 5) Government ministers amend/reject/approve. 6) If both EP and ministers agree, act adopted 7) Passed to national governments to implement. Result: "Directive (EU) 2016/681 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime".ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?But the UK has an 80% services economy and services is completely related to European Union. There are four freedoms in the single market. Free movement of people, goods, services and capital (money).ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Well it depends how you count and a lot of EU rules aren't really laws in any meaningful way. Like, for instance, EU regulations defining symbols for chemicals. So that there is one set of chemical labels across Europe to help reduce accidents. And it depends on the policy area. In farming, EU things like rules to stop diseases spreading affect farms quite a lot. There's the Single Farm Payment and the Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the Agricultural Fund for Rural Development... All this agreed democratically by farm ministers and by the European Parliament. Did you know EU funding also helps to pay for nature reserves? In defence, hardly affected at all by anything EU.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?The best deal with EU, is membership of EU.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Less of that kind of language please. We have civilised ways of deciding things in this country. We need the closest possible cooperation with the rest of continental Europe and Ireland in all kinds of ways. European Movement UK says the best way is membership of the European Union.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?"Fined and referred to the police for breaking electoral law". Please see Electoral Commission. Now there is a complaint about the Electoral Commission itself. Failing to make it easy for citizens of other EU countries in the UK to get their right to vote in this European Parliament election.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Yes and the incredible misuse of Facebook. The 'dark money' ads. The ads that only some Facebook users saw. Have you seen the Carole Cadwalladr TED video? Did you see the wraparound ad put on the Evening Standard newspaper on 23 June 2016? It had the DUP logo on it. The DUP, the party no-one had heard of, from Northern Ireland. What was their logo doing on an advert in London? Who paid for the ad? Where did the money come from?ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Thank you MW. Have you heard of the Balance of Competences Review? tinyurl.com/balcomp The largest study ever done in Europe of what EU membership means for a country. It heard from doctors, farmers, scientists, businessmen, factory owners, all sorts. The result was, in all kinds of ways, EU membership is helpful. There are some quirks and frustrations that you get because of being part of a bigger thing. Have you seen Vidar Helgesen's 2015 article for Open Democracy? A "Norwegian view". About security in today's world. It's more important than trade and why security "should be placed at the heart of the debate". Last week I was invited to the European Citizens' Meeting in Kassel, Germany. Stayed with a host family. It was all amazing. People I met there said that seeing the House of Commons debates on German TV for the first time was "astonishing" because of the traditions for one thing. The people in Kassel I met said they are worried about "the far-right" in Europe and could not have made me more welcome.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Thank you Marsh Wader. This evening, went out canvassing with Lib Dems in High Wycombe. I am Phil Jones. Met a man who said at the doorstep the old nonsense about the EU accounts. The first report of the European Court of Auditors was for the financial year 1977-78. It said there were things wrong. Like a number of Belgian francs "incorrectly classified on the balance sheet". Even the furniture was audited. The Court has 'signed off' the EU's accounts every year since 2007. It's part of the EU but independent and its credibility depends on its independence. eca.europa.eu.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Well I realise before 2016 I was clueless about EU. Citizens' rights. Citizens of other EU countries in the UK. British in Europe. Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement. Gibraltar. The single market. The customs union. The EU democratic system. Farming, regional development, chemicals, science, copyrights, intellectual property, electronics standards, fishing, fundamental rights, judicial and security cooperation, consumer protections, air and sea safety, food safety, animal welfare, environment, satnavs, wildlife, financial services, competition rules, asylum, migration... I'd not thought about any of this stuff. Did you know that part of the GDPR is the way that it is, because someone in Spain took Google to court in the EU court? Did you know that there's an EU project to help nuclear decommissioning in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia? Did you know there's an EU project for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland? Did you know that all customs posts on the island of Ireland were no longer needed in 1993 because the EU single market came in? Did you know that the Good Friday Agreement was made with the help of the Americans as well? Did you know the EU budget is small? It's limited to 1.23% of Europe's Gross National Income. See EU budget 2017 financial report. What are the top two expenses of the EU? Farming and regional development. A third of the budget each. Admin about 7%. Did you know the EU cannot exceed its powers? The only things the EU does in this country... are in the policy areas where prime ministers and Parliament have decided to allow.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?You mean Permanent Structured Cooperation on defence. It's voluntary. National sovereignty is not affected. Have you read the PESCO notice? tinyurl.com/pesco-noticeViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?On what legal basis? The four freedoms of the single market are all linked. If you want free movement of goods then you get free movement of people as well. But free movement is not a free for all. See 'Your Europe - residence rights'. On europa.eu.ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Does NATO run a court to settle disputes peacefully? Does it support farmers? Does it help manage fish stocks fairly? Does it help licence medicines? Does it negotiate a shared trade policy? Does it support non-discrimination, equality, human rights, the rule of law? Does it enforce fair competition across Europe?ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?I didn't. Nor did all the people from all the other EU countries who have loved this country for so long. Because they were denied a voice. Nor did British abroad more than 15 years. They were denied a voice as well. If you lived in Gibraltar, or along the Irish border, would you say that?ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?Thank you Marsh Wader. I recognise the quote from Femi. I've met Femi several times at the protest outside Parliament with Stephen Bray. Femi is fantastic, right? :-)ViewDate:
22nd May 2019pip2 commented on:
Who will you be voting for in the European Elections?The European Parliament cares about this country. And Ireland. Example: the debate on 28 June 2016 about the referendum result. tinyurl.com/hapsdkq It has *published* its impact studies. As Richard Corbett MEP has said. The European Council has been consistent, principled, organised. Look at the European Commission's work. "Essential principles on citizens' rights". "Essential principles on financial settlement". "Notices to Stakeholders". Look at the way everything agreed at EU meetings is published. Look at the EU Publications Office. "The European Union explained" series. The EU has earned my trust.