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And for good reason, what the EU is asking here is deeply political (higher long-term taxes are always political) without any shade of legitimacy, for the simpl

And for good reason, what the EU is asking here is deeply political (higher long-term taxes are always political) without any shade of legitimacy, for the simple reason that the EU was meant to be first and foremost an economical Union/treaty area, not a political one. As a EU citizen I do hope things won’t progress any further in this political regard because that will be the death of the Union (I know I’ll be among the many protesting deeper political integration), blowing up the economic union which while not perfect had its distinct advantages. Hope someone puts some common sense into today’s EU politicians/technocrats, they seem not to notice that they’te driving us all over a cliff (because apparently Brexit didn’t mean anything to them).

Bayart 5y ago
>for the simple reason that the EU was meant to be first and foremost an economical Union/treaty area, not a political one The EU was always meant to be a political union. The economical elements were introduced first because they're more palatable. It's an argument I often see repeated from people living in countries where the EU for sold as a trade tool (for example the Netherlands) when it was simply not the case.
estaseuropano 5y ago
> As a EU citizen I do hope things won’t progress any further in this political regard because that will be the death of the Union why would it be? The Union has evolved feom an agreement to coordinate coal and steel production to much more, and helped keep peace and bring wealth and integration. Globally the challenges are however not purely economic, economy and politics always mix - see China or Trump's arbitrary tariffs. Why would deeper integration be death of the Union? For me deeper integration is very much needed as plainly the EU countries are mostly too small to play any global role individually and will be bullied by China & co if they don't get more closely together.
niemandhier 5y ago
The EU was not conceived as an economic union, but as a tool to further the union of European nations via economics. France and Germany handed over a lot of control of their war critical industrial infrastructure to 'High Authority' which preceded the European Commission, not for trades sake but to prevent world war III and form an counter weight against the Warsaw Pact. Robert Schuman ( the French Foreign Minister at the time ) declared: " Through the consolidation of basic production and the institution of a new High Authority, whose decisions will bind France, Germany and the other countries that join, this proposal represents the first concrete step towards a European federation, imperative for the preservation of peace."[1] The only one to envision Europe purely as an economic union was Churchill, and since the UK left his visions hold even less importance. [1] https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/symbols/europe-day/schuman-declaration_en https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/symbols/europe-day...
kergonath 5y ago
> the EU was meant to be first and foremost an economical Union/treaty area, not a political one That's a fudge that some governments (mostly British ones) used to avoid blowback at home, knowing (or hoping) that their people would not get any information from foreign media. That's a lie. It was never the case. It was political from the very beginning. You should read the Schuman declaration.

Bayart 5y ago

>for the simple reason that the EU was meant to be first and foremost an economical Union/treaty area, not a political one The EU was always meant to be a political union. The economical elements were introduced first because they're more palatable. It's an argument I often see repeated from people living in countries where the EU for sold as a trade tool (for example the Netherlands) when it was simply not the case.

estaseuropano 5y ago

> As a EU citizen I do hope things won’t progress any further in this political regard because that will be the death of the Union why would it be? The Union has evolved feom an agreement to coordinate coal and steel production to much more, and helped keep peace and bring wealth and integration. Globally the challenges are however not purely economic, economy and politics always mix - see China or Trump's arbitrary tariffs. Why would deeper integration be death of the Union? For me deeper integration is very much needed as plainly the EU countries are mostly too small to play any global role individually and will be bullied by China & co if they don't get more closely together.

niemandhier 5y ago

The EU was not conceived as an economic union, but as a tool to further the union of European nations via economics. France and Germany handed over a lot of control of their war critical industrial infrastructure to 'High Authority' which preceded the European Commission, not for trades sake but to prevent world war III and form an counter weight against the Warsaw Pact. Robert Schuman ( the French Foreign Minister at the time ) declared: " Through the consolidation of basic production and the institution of a new High Authority, whose decisions will bind France, Germany and the other countries that join, this proposal represents the first concrete step towards a European federation, imperative for the preservation of peace."[1] The only one to envision Europe purely as an economic union was Churchill, and since the UK left his visions hold even less importance. [1] https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/symbols/europe-day/schuman-declaration_en https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/symbols/europe-day...

kergonath 5y ago

> the EU was meant to be first and foremost an economical Union/treaty area, not a political one That's a fudge that some governments (mostly British ones) used to avoid blowback at home, knowing (or hoping) that their people would not get any information from foreign media. That's a lie. It was never the case. It was political from the very beginning. You should read the Schuman declaration.