If there’s a “light” Government somewhere in the EU, I would love to know where it is.
Estonia? That’s the reputation anyway. It’s the only EU government that seems to get much positive press outside of the EU in relation to its efficiency.
I had a girlfriend who worked for the Slovenian national government (foreign service or equivalent) from the 90s to today. Apparently what started lean and mean and fairly effective (I mean the Slovenan national government 
) did not stay that way as Slovenia became more and more immersed in the EU. She got very tired of taking trips to Brussels.
Finners wrote:
If there’s a “light” Government somewhere in the EU, I would love to know where it is.
We’re talking about different things. A “fat” government doesn’t necessarily mean a “job creation scheme”. That would imply that most things a government do is pointless. I certainly know that there are some political views that a minimal government is desirable, but that still doesn’t mean that the things the government does is pointless – just that they shouldn’t be done by the government.
To tell you the truth, every time some a big wig comes to Budapest half the city is snarled up. Police everywhere motorcades 4-6 police motorcycles 3-4 police cars. It happens on a regular basis. Its happening all over Europe. Its all pompous egotistical BS. Here I am look at me. Im important! GMAFB its govt speak.
Why the hell cant they use Skype? Like the rest of us. Perhaps they are afraid of NSA.
With all this inefficiency, with every country doing the same thing, I cant understand why the Euro is valued higher than the $.
Ackim maybe the German border guards can be redeployed to the borders of the EU. I was driving through Munich the other day and it felt like I was back in NY, albeit much, much, cleaner.
A “fat” government doesn’t necessarily mean a “job creation scheme”
It does usually end up that way, however
)Why the hell cant they use Skype?
The whole point of being a diplomat is to run up massive expenses, like €2000 fully flexible / convertible tickets between London and Brussels. EASA has an H24 desk for reimbursing expenses… Do you think Greece would have been admitted into the Euro if a massive party could not have been organised in Athens for the Euro diplomatic class? You can’t have a p1ssup (with everything that follows later in the evening, given half a chance) over VOIP (Well, I am sure people are working on it – it’s called Virtual Reality – but it isn’t here yet )
Peter wrote:
It does usually end up that way, however
I think you are generalising massively from your UK experience. E.g. vote buying is much less of an issue if you have proportional representation instead of single-member constituencies.
Most refugees heading for the UK? Where do you have that information from, Peter?
Achim is right: You cannot take a shower without getting wet. The UK only has to join the system and you’ll enjoy the same freedom
Peter wrote:
With most immigrants in Europe heading for the UK, the UK is not going to join Schengen, ever. Anyway, that wasn’t my question…
This is actually not even remotely true. It’s a fiction promoted by the likes of the Daily Mail.
In any case the Calais problem would probably still be dealt with as it is now if the UK were in Schengen due to security about the tunnel and ferries. Daily Mail readers are cutting their nose off to spite their face – it’s absurd it often takes me longer to re-enter the UK from Spain as a British citizen than it takes for me to enter the United States on a visa waiver. If Mail readers started being able to go on Ryanair somewhere and come back without being stuck in a massive immigration queue, I’m sure their tune would soon change.
Most refugees to the EU end up in Germany or Sweden.
Refugees indeed mostly go elsewhere than the UK. However the UK is very popular with economic (i.e. illegal) migrants, because the UK is probably the easiest place in Europe for an illegal to live and work. This is mainly the result of having a very liberal society.
Ted.P wrote:
This is mainly the result of having a very liberal society.
This liberalism manifests itself in 27.5% for UKIP?
