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The Register, being British, should probably have gotten this right, but people constantly get this wrong. Even a lot of people living in the union don't even r

The Register, being British, should probably have gotten this right, but people constantly get this wrong. Even a lot of people living in the union don't even realize the different between EU, Europe, EEA, Schengen and all the other layers, so maybe it's hard to blame "outsiders" from not getting it either. I'm guessing maybe the "European Commission" threw them off, because it's an EU entity (basically the executive branch), not "Europe wide" one, which the name kind of implies. But then "EU" also implies "Europe wide" in its name, and people seem to kind of get the difference most of the times.

rsynnott 1y ago
The Register know very well what the EU is. However, in practice, the EU is colloquially referred to as "Europe" in many contexts in the UK. The rules the EU establishes will also apply to the EEA, and in practice will almost certainly also be adopted by the UK, which has tended to take its lead from the EU on such matters since Brexit. So, while pedantically these are not rules for Europe, _for practical purposes_ they likely will be.
- a2800276 1y ago
  Also, most people are aware that "Europe" the continent is unlikely to make such decisions, so it's pretty obvious what's meant by context.
  - littlestymaar 1y ago
    It's not obvious at all actually, since there are many European things that also affect Island, Norway and Switzerland for being part of EFTA, but an equally high number of things that don't. And even the EU itself is pretty fragmented with various overlapping areas with different rules. As someone who's studied European relations, I can tell you that it's a real mess, and the fact that journalists don't accurately reporting the facts definitely isn't helpful.
  - ttoinou 1y ago
    There are others ways to coordinates european countries than EU institutions
- Aardwolf 1y ago
  What continent does UK consider itself part of then?
  - rsynnott 1y ago
    Context matters; you can generally tell whether someone's talking politics or geography.
    - Aardwolf 1y ago
      But in politics the distinction between EU and Europe matters, there's the political EU region, but countries like Switzerland and Norway are politically still in Europe despite not being in EU just due to all the neighboring countries, in theory same should apply to UK
  - crote 1y ago
    It likes to believe it is somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
  - freehorse 1y ago
    Whenever I go to the UK, people there seem to consistently refer to EU or the rest/continental europe in general as "europe", esp in political/economic context. My impression is that the UK is just too important to be grouped together with other countries.
  - mr_toad 1y ago
    Ask two different people and get three different answers.
- ksec 1y ago
  >the EU is colloquially referred to as "Europe" in many contexts in the UK. It really should have been EUR for Europe, and EU as in European Union.
NoboruWataya 1y ago
I think most people realise there is a difference. If nothing else, Brexit made it very clear to those who didn't already know that you can be in this part of the world but not in the EU. But rightly or wrongly, people still use "Europe" as shorthand for "the European Union". It's no different to referring to the US as "America". I do think the media should aim to do better so agree that the Register should have used the correct term.
- _w04p 1y ago
  I find your comparison not so convincing. While there is some common misidentification between the EU and Europe, I’ve never heard anyone in the world refer to “America” in a way that was not for the United States.
  - KAMSPioneer 1y ago
    In my personal experience, people from Latin American countries will sometimes point out that they are American because they come from North or South America. Which is, of course, true; however, in English conversation, it's often nothing more than pedantry. In Spanish it makes more sense, since there is a separate demonym for a US person that doesn't co-opt the term "American." Outside of Romance language speakers born on the American continents, I agree that everyone seems fine calling US-born persons "Americans" without much confusion nor gnashing of teeth.
    - lazide 1y ago
      It’s even more amusing in some ways. A common way to refer to those from the USA in Brazil, for instance (even an official one!) is ‘Norte Americano’. Which is all kinds of weird because - what about Mexico and Canada? And what about the ‘United states’ part? It’s just to disambiguate from ‘Americano’ as in what others in South America sometimes use to refer to latin Americans and as a little bit of a FU to the USA, hahah.
      - KAMSPioneer 1y ago
School-Cotton 1y ago
You’re right, but this is probably a losing battle. People are probably never going to stop colloquially referring to the political entity that contains most of Europe’s land and population as “Europe”. And, being on an island, British people are probably never going to stop thinking of “the continent” as at least a little bit of a different thing from themselves.
mschuster91 1y ago
And on top of that, when it comes to anything radio, ITU has quite the lot to say as well, and you got the ham radio community / IARU as well. Radio, by virtue of physically not caring about borders, is a really really hot mess, with lots of very powerful and very monied interests floating around.
TitaRusell 1y ago
Switzerland is not in the EU but they follow EU legislation. It's kinda like Canada and the US.
- wkat4242 1y ago
  Not directly though. They get some exceptions and they have referenda to implement things. They align with the EU a lot for commercial reasons but not completely. Same with Norway. And really, if they did align completely there'd be no reason to not join.

rsynnott 1y ago

The Register know very well what the EU is. However, in practice, the EU is colloquially referred to as "Europe" in many contexts in the UK. The rules the EU establishes will also apply to the EEA, and in practice will almost certainly also be adopted by the UK, which has tended to take its lead from the EU on such matters since Brexit. So, while pedantically these are not rules for Europe, _for practical purposes_ they likely will be.

a2800276 1y ago
Also, most people are aware that "Europe" the continent is unlikely to make such decisions, so it's pretty obvious what's meant by context.
- littlestymaar 1y ago
  It's not obvious at all actually, since there are many European things that also affect Island, Norway and Switzerland for being part of EFTA, but an equally high number of things that don't. And even the EU itself is pretty fragmented with various overlapping areas with different rules. As someone who's studied European relations, I can tell you that it's a real mess, and the fact that journalists don't accurately reporting the facts definitely isn't helpful.
- ttoinou 1y ago
  There are others ways to coordinates european countries than EU institutions
Aardwolf 1y ago
What continent does UK consider itself part of then?
- rsynnott 1y ago
  Context matters; you can generally tell whether someone's talking politics or geography.
  - Aardwolf 1y ago
    But in politics the distinction between EU and Europe matters, there's the political EU region, but countries like Switzerland and Norway are politically still in Europe despite not being in EU just due to all the neighboring countries, in theory same should apply to UK
- crote 1y ago
  It likes to believe it is somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
- freehorse 1y ago
  Whenever I go to the UK, people there seem to consistently refer to EU or the rest/continental europe in general as "europe", esp in political/economic context. My impression is that the UK is just too important to be grouped together with other countries.
- mr_toad 1y ago
  Ask two different people and get three different answers.
ksec 1y ago
>the EU is colloquially referred to as "Europe" in many contexts in the UK. It really should have been EUR for Europe, and EU as in European Union.

NoboruWataya 1y ago

I think most people realise there is a difference. If nothing else, Brexit made it very clear to those who didn't already know that you can be in this part of the world but not in the EU. But rightly or wrongly, people still use "Europe" as shorthand for "the European Union". It's no different to referring to the US as "America". I do think the media should aim to do better so agree that the Register should have used the correct term.

_w04p 1y ago
I find your comparison not so convincing. While there is some common misidentification between the EU and Europe, I’ve never heard anyone in the world refer to “America” in a way that was not for the United States.
- KAMSPioneer 1y ago
  In my personal experience, people from Latin American countries will sometimes point out that they are American because they come from North or South America. Which is, of course, true; however, in English conversation, it's often nothing more than pedantry. In Spanish it makes more sense, since there is a separate demonym for a US person that doesn't co-opt the term "American." Outside of Romance language speakers born on the American continents, I agree that everyone seems fine calling US-born persons "Americans" without much confusion nor gnashing of teeth.
  - lazide 1y ago
    It’s even more amusing in some ways. A common way to refer to those from the USA in Brazil, for instance (even an official one!) is ‘Norte Americano’. Which is all kinds of weird because - what about Mexico and Canada? And what about the ‘United states’ part? It’s just to disambiguate from ‘Americano’ as in what others in South America sometimes use to refer to latin Americans and as a little bit of a FU to the USA, hahah.
    - KAMSPioneer 1y ago

School-Cotton 1y ago

You’re right, but this is probably a losing battle. People are probably never going to stop colloquially referring to the political entity that contains most of Europe’s land and population as “Europe”. And, being on an island, British people are probably never going to stop thinking of “the continent” as at least a little bit of a different thing from themselves.

mschuster91 1y ago

And on top of that, when it comes to anything radio, ITU has quite the lot to say as well, and you got the ham radio community / IARU as well. Radio, by virtue of physically not caring about borders, is a really really hot mess, with lots of very powerful and very monied interests floating around.

TitaRusell 1y ago

Switzerland is not in the EU but they follow EU legislation. It's kinda like Canada and the US.

wkat4242 1y ago
Not directly though. They get some exceptions and they have referenda to implement things. They align with the EU a lot for commercial reasons but not completely. Same with Norway. And really, if they did align completely there'd be no reason to not join.