In an attempt to divert attention away from the collapse of the constitution Chirac and Schroder are trying to grab Britains £3bn EU annual rebate.
Chirac said the time has come for our British friends to understand that they must now make a gesture of solidarity.
What he didn’t say is that Britain over the past 10 years, even with the rebate, has been making a contribution into Europe two and half times that of France even though our economies and population are comparable. Without the rebate, it would have been 15 times as much as France.
Blair refused unless France agreed to reform hand-outs from the costly Common Agricultural Policy. (French farmers receive around £6bn a year from the CAP).
The hypocrite Chirac opposed any reform of the CAP saying "I am not willing to compromise" on this issue, and that the 2002 agreement (that he and Schroder cooked up in secret) should be implemented.
Well that's the French for ya.
A gesture of solidarity my arse
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Indeed so. May their already miniscule private parts shrivel and refuse to perform for them, the dogs.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
A gesture of solidarity my arse
ha so now perhaps with the 200 year Trafalgar anniversary due we should take to the seas again and show Chirac the Nelson Touch.
"I have done my duty. I thank God for it!"
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Please excuse my patriotism on this one, but we could also point out that it`s actually France, Germany and Spain who take out most in the way of CAP subsidies and regional development - the hypocrisy of the frogs is breath-taking!
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Philadelphia Eagle
- Posts: 505
- Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:50 am
A gesture of solidarity my arse
When is this increasingly fragile looking European Union 'solidarity' finally going to implode?
The more one reads about the ill-fated 'union', the more one is reminded of the parable of the foolish man who built his house on sand.
The more one reads about the ill-fated 'union', the more one is reminded of the parable of the foolish man who built his house on sand.
America the Beautiful :-6
website - home.comcast.net/~nmusgrave/
website - home.comcast.net/~nmusgrave/
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Philadelphia Eagle wrote: When is this increasingly fragile looking European Union 'solidarity' finally going to implode?
The more one reads about the ill-fated 'union', the more one is reminded of the parable of the foolish man who built his house on sand.
It’s not going to implode, arguments between Britain and the rest of the EU are the norm, after all the shouting and posturing is done, an agreement will be reached.
The more one reads about the ill-fated 'union', the more one is reminded of the parable of the foolish man who built his house on sand.
It’s not going to implode, arguments between Britain and the rest of the EU are the norm, after all the shouting and posturing is done, an agreement will be reached.
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capt_buzzard
- Posts: 5557
- Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2004 12:00 pm
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Bothwell wrote: ha so now perhaps with the 200 year Trafalgar anniversary due we should take to the seas again and show Chirac the Nelson Touch.Lovely Bothwell
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Stop the derogatory name-calling crap, please. I'm French heritage even though my family has been living in the US and Canada for many generations. After arriving in Quebec, both sides of my family moved to New England. My great grandfather fought for the North in the Civil War. Both sides of my family later were pioneers settling land in western Canada. But the French heritage was still maintained all this time. I'm proud of it, and I would think you should be proud of your own heritage. I don't dis-respect others for their race or lineage, I would hope some of you would do the same.
That's all.
That's all.
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Ah where would we be without a bit of friendly name-calling, sure is't that what its all about! Anyway its better to be shouting bout budget rebates than dropping bombs on each other? That's what the EU is all about, I know its not the most popular institution in Britain, but I think the good of the EU far outweighs the bad. We actually have the Euro over here in Ireland and the sky hasn't fallen in yet and I don't think the Germans are planning to take over anytime soon! Despite the problems (and god knows there are enough!) I don't think the EU is in any real trouble, I just think that the politicians are moving too far too fast and its making a lot of people (and not just the Brits) a bit uncomfortable. But i think in the long term things will even themselves out and we can get on with the more serious business of the champions league and the Eurovision song contest.
"We are never so happy, never so unhappy, as we imagine"
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
A gesture of solidarity my arse
posted by philadelphia eagle
When is this increasingly fragile looking European Union 'solidarity' finally going to implode?
The more one reads about the ill-fated 'union', the more one is reminded of the parable of the foolish man who built his house on sand.
To paraphrase Churchill, there are those, not understanding the nature of a free people, who mistake the sound of arguement and dissension as sign of weakness.
posted by turbinium
Stop the derogatory name-calling crap, please. I'm French heritage even though my family has been living in the US and Canada for many generations. After arriving in Quebec, both sides of my family moved to New England. My great grandfather fought for the North in the Civil War. Both sides of my family later were pioneers settling land in western Canada. But the French heritage was still maintained all this time. I'm proud of it, and I would think you should be proud of your own heritage. I don't dis-respect others for their race or lineage, I would hope some of you would do the same.
I'm afraid that the right to take the proverbial out of the french and germans is one we have fought for, besides they give as good as they get. There is a major difference between being insulting with the intent to provoke and taking the ****. It's subtle but still major.
When is this increasingly fragile looking European Union 'solidarity' finally going to implode?
The more one reads about the ill-fated 'union', the more one is reminded of the parable of the foolish man who built his house on sand.
To paraphrase Churchill, there are those, not understanding the nature of a free people, who mistake the sound of arguement and dissension as sign of weakness.
posted by turbinium
Stop the derogatory name-calling crap, please. I'm French heritage even though my family has been living in the US and Canada for many generations. After arriving in Quebec, both sides of my family moved to New England. My great grandfather fought for the North in the Civil War. Both sides of my family later were pioneers settling land in western Canada. But the French heritage was still maintained all this time. I'm proud of it, and I would think you should be proud of your own heritage. I don't dis-respect others for their race or lineage, I would hope some of you would do the same.
I'm afraid that the right to take the proverbial out of the french and germans is one we have fought for, besides they give as good as they get. There is a major difference between being insulting with the intent to provoke and taking the ****. It's subtle but still major.
A gesture of solidarity my arse
I would think you should be proud of your own heritage.
I am proud of my heritage and it includes Agincourt, Waterloo and Trafalgar to name but a few
I am proud of my heritage and it includes Agincourt, Waterloo and Trafalgar to name but a few
"I have done my duty. I thank God for it!"
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Accountable
- Posts: 24818
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 8:33 am
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Galbally wrote: Ah where would we be without a bit of friendly name-calling, sure is't that what its all about! Anyway its better to be shouting bout budget rebates than dropping bombs on each other? That's what the EU is all about, I know its not the most popular institution in Britain, but I think the good of the EU far outweighs the bad. [...]
I thought that was what the UN was for. Why have an UN jr?
I thought that was what the UN was for. Why have an UN jr?
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Accountable wrote: I thought that was what the UN was for. Why have an UN jr?
Because the UN doesn't work. Anyway really the EU is a trading thing whatever else about the politics so its basis is the idea of making money, not itself, its a typical beauracracy, but to enable its member states to. Whether it suceeds in this is of course open to question, though my business-minded friends tell me it does and I believe em.
Because the UN doesn't work. Anyway really the EU is a trading thing whatever else about the politics so its basis is the idea of making money, not itself, its a typical beauracracy, but to enable its member states to. Whether it suceeds in this is of course open to question, though my business-minded friends tell me it does and I believe em.
"We are never so happy, never so unhappy, as we imagine"
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
A gesture of solidarity my arse
Galbally I think it is always interesting to see how different countries view the EU, I know from business contact I have in the Republic that they love it, although I have heard them whinge a bit about rising house prices etc their general view was that they had done really well out of the EU.
As to business here it is still hard to do business with some European countries not particularly because of EU regulations but that some countries do not like giving business to the UK, I have had some success with France but Germany is a nightmare, they appear to be so convinced that german manufactured good are the last word in excellence that regardless of price it has to be German.
I do however believe that the EU needs to sort out 2 pressing problems, the ridiculous farm subsidies and the scandalous accounting system. The second point was presided over by our never to be prime minister Neil (welsh wind bag) Kinnock. the accounts have not been ratified for years becasue of missing monies amounting to Billions of OUR (mine and yours) Euros.
As to business here it is still hard to do business with some European countries not particularly because of EU regulations but that some countries do not like giving business to the UK, I have had some success with France but Germany is a nightmare, they appear to be so convinced that german manufactured good are the last word in excellence that regardless of price it has to be German.
I do however believe that the EU needs to sort out 2 pressing problems, the ridiculous farm subsidies and the scandalous accounting system. The second point was presided over by our never to be prime minister Neil (welsh wind bag) Kinnock. the accounts have not been ratified for years becasue of missing monies amounting to Billions of OUR (mine and yours) Euros.
"I have done my duty. I thank God for it!"
A gesture of solidarity my arse
I do however believe that the EU needs to sort out 2 pressing problems, the ridiculous farm subsidies and the scandalous accounting system. The second point was presided over by our never to be prime minister Neil (welsh wind bag) Kinnock. the accounts have not been ratified for years becasue of missing monies amounting to Billions of OUR (mine and yours) Euros.
I don't know myself what its like to be in business in the EU so I will take your word for it. I totally agree with your points about the CAP and the accounting procedures, I think Britain is right on these issues, unfortunatly because of our farming lobby our government is like the French on CAP. I can see why it was first implemented but at this stage its just nonsense.
I think for Britain to get more out of the EU it should tackle just these types of issues, but not in a sort of emotive nationalistic way, but just as a comitted member. British people would be surprised at how much other EU nationalities agree with some of their arguments about the EU, but I think its the way that the issues are dealt with that lets the brits down. It is strange how the different nationalities view the thing, I think a big difference between the Republic and Britain is that we don't percieve the idea of the EU to be a threat to our national sovereignty, which ye do. Perhaps we are being naive or ye are being a bit paranoid I don't know, or maybe the American are behind it (they always get blamed for everything!). Anyway if you think its bad now, wait till the negotiations with Turkey start, thats when the big pink elephant in the sitting room will sudenly become more obvious to everyone.
I don't know myself what its like to be in business in the EU so I will take your word for it. I totally agree with your points about the CAP and the accounting procedures, I think Britain is right on these issues, unfortunatly because of our farming lobby our government is like the French on CAP. I can see why it was first implemented but at this stage its just nonsense.
I think for Britain to get more out of the EU it should tackle just these types of issues, but not in a sort of emotive nationalistic way, but just as a comitted member. British people would be surprised at how much other EU nationalities agree with some of their arguments about the EU, but I think its the way that the issues are dealt with that lets the brits down. It is strange how the different nationalities view the thing, I think a big difference between the Republic and Britain is that we don't percieve the idea of the EU to be a threat to our national sovereignty, which ye do. Perhaps we are being naive or ye are being a bit paranoid I don't know, or maybe the American are behind it (they always get blamed for everything!). Anyway if you think its bad now, wait till the negotiations with Turkey start, thats when the big pink elephant in the sitting room will sudenly become more obvious to everyone.
"We are never so happy, never so unhappy, as we imagine"
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
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Accountable
- Posts: 24818
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 8:33 am
A gesture of solidarity my arse
I just see the EU as a new USA. That means that sooner or later the states (France, Germany, etc) will be asked - or forced - to give up their sovereignty. The USA started in much the same way: pooling their resources to jointly compete.