[Flipside]

Well said. It needed openness from the word go, else no-one is going to trust it, and without using Force, no form of governance works without trust.

The way my parents describe the British entry into the EU is 'One minute they were considering it, next thing anyone knew, they'd joined'. Not a good way to get the publics trust there.

[Flipside]

hehehe Well, let's face it, the French have plenty of reasons not to like the Welsh in History, the word 'Longbow' comes to mind

[vyper]

And might I point out CAP exists because the Germans wanted a free market for heavy industry - which their economy relied on heavily, and the French (who relied heavily on Agriculture) wanted a balance for that powerful market being handed to the Germans -  and thus we all got CAPped.

[vyper]

https://freeinternetpress.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2879

"German Unemployment Hits 70-Year High"

That euro sure must be fun.

[Roanoke]

German unemployment hasn't been higher since just before Hitler came to power. So it says in the paper.

[Ghostavo]

vyper, unemployment in Germany has been rising longer than they have had the Euro, your point?

[vyper]

My point is it hasn't helped.

So if it doesn't help, and my economy is already doing better anyway... why the **** should Britain join/

[Ghostavo]

I would have assumed the benefits of a common currency would be much more long term than just 5 years, but...

Those countries who did not join the Euro are free to do so, it's not like anyone's forcing them to join or something (or are they? ).

[Mr Carrot]

Flexability is always more important than size in a currency, something the world seemed to forget when a bunch of nations adopted the dollar as backing.

Long term the pound has been fantastic, theres no reason to get rid of something that works better than the thing you want to replace it with.

as for forcing you to join the Euro, Germany and France were 'forced' per say because it was not a democratic choice, the German opinion polls gave it only 40% support upon launch. France also enjoys using it as bragaining in EU negotiations against Britain (you should read the minutes Chirac really is a viscious ****ebag in them).

[vyper]

Carrot, where you get those minutes?