MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Euro skepticism spreads along the continent, shows Pew Research survey
The European Union has suffered a “double dip” collapse in favorability in many member states since 2010, with many citizens across Europe demanding it return powers to them, according to research. A report from the Pew Research Center published Tuesday found that the British, who will vote on their future in the bloc on June 23, are not the only country with doubts about the EU. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesWow! what a surprise.
Jun 08th, 2016 - 10:55 am - Link - Report abuse 0The EU has done nothing to deal with the migrant crisis apart from trying to pay Turkey to do the unpleasant task of turning economic migrants back to their own countries.
Jun 08th, 2016 - 01:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The simple answer for us Brits:
Jun 08th, 2016 - 04:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0VOTE LEAVE!
@3 Do you have a vote? I don't think so!
Jun 08th, 2016 - 05:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@ 4 gordo1
Jun 08th, 2016 - 06:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Then you know nothing! But why am I not surprised, you are an RCC imbecile.
Only if you exceed 15 years do you lose the vote, I have ben away 5+ and had to register via the Embassy AND I will be voting LEAVE!
Go back to reading the comic called the bible, it's obviously working for you, NOT.
Shows how incompetent the UK government is. This would have been an excellent time to argue for some reforms to the EU, returning more power to the national governments etc.
Jun 08th, 2016 - 09:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Instead of pointing out that the EU's two main problems, the Euro and the Schengen agreement, are things the UK never subscribed to and maybe the other countries should consider getting rid of them, they're busy making the UK look like the bad guys and tearing apart the government and people over the referendum.
If Cameron had taken some time and been prepared to work with other governments that are also more Eurosceptic he could have tried to get some real substantive changes instead of the largely cosmetic stuff he actually asked for and didn't really get.
@6 The U.K. government DID secure reforms in January and February of this year. It was all over the news for months. He secured 'special status' for Britain within the EU. It will become effective immediately if the vote is to Remain. It does not go as far as Cameron (and UK voters) wanted but it curbs some welfare payments to immigrants, protection of the City of London (the largest contributor to our economy), protects the pound, guarantees of repaying any money we contribute to bailing out other nations, and a Red Card system to veto unwanted laws if 55% of parliaments agree. I don't agree with you that Cameron did not spend time negotiating - he was in Europe a lot.
Jun 09th, 2016 - 08:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0We are never going to give up the pound and that was secured in the negotiations and we will never subscribe to Schengen. Most of all we protected The City that makes us a fortune and Germany and France had their beady eyes on. The reason these two subjects were spoken about was because the Leave campaign said we would lose the pound and be forced to sign up to the Schengen agreement.
I think some European countries did suspend the Schengen agreement when the immigrant crisis was at its peak. I also happen to think if we leave it may cause others to hold referendums. I am not sure how many could afford to leave which is one point to consider. I think the U.K. will ride out the rough years after leaving but not all EU countries are in that position.
@ 7
Jun 09th, 2016 - 06:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Elaine, really, even you can't believe that drivel in your last post. Cameron may have spent a lot of time negotiating but everyone knows he actually got sod all. Not one sliver of sovereignty or power was returned to the UK, not one. Nothing is legally enforcable - just empty & meaningless waffle to disguise the fact that the EU was not for reforming.
'special status' for Britain ,
Jun 09th, 2016 - 07:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0tell that to the rest of the EU or merkle,
we got nothing, nothing is written in law or treaty,
and after the 23rd what is to stop the EU from simply throwing it all out,
just look at the way our so called friends have treated and interfered with us,
even today the Americans and Sweden was discussing the UK and stated they wanted us to remain, what's it got to do with them,
Germany and France threatens us all, Spain makes threats,
even Greece demanded we stay,
sorry but if you call all this special treatment then criss knows what ordinary treatment looks like.
my opinion is to vote leave.
“It curbs some welfare payments to immigrants” I assume your referring to the so called “emergency handbrake”. Elaine who decides when the emergency handbrake can be pulled ? Our democratically elected & Sovereign Government, er actually no, the unelected & unaccountable European Commision again. ..........Hurrah Europe is reformed.....NOT
Jun 09th, 2016 - 07:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Just giving the other side of the debate; keep your hair on. :)
Jun 09th, 2016 - 08:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I was answering the accusation that no negotiations had taken place. That is not true.
We are not going to lose the pound as some like to suggest and we won't sign up to Schengen. I could care less who makes the laws if they are good ones. There is now a system of veto and most important is the security of The City.
I want to make a fair and balanced decision and shoot down the nonsense both sides are spouting.
@ 11 Elaine - Agreed a negotiation did take place - its just that there was no tangible output other than a nebulous form of words formulated to bamboozle Joe British public until after the referendum.
Jun 09th, 2016 - 09:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There is no immediate prospect of losing the pound. However, Tony Blair was mad keen to join the Euro - only Gordon Brown wouldn't let him. Ironically the thing keeping the pound safe at the moment is the unmitigated disaster that is the Euro Zone !!!
“Protection for City of London” The City of London is desperate for the UK to leave the EU as its meddling regulation, transaction tax are seen as a huge threat etc etc. Free of EU meddling, the City of London could & would perform even better for the UK !
@7 ElaineB
Jun 09th, 2016 - 10:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I guess what I wanted to see were reforms to the EU as a whole, whereas what Cameron asked for was basically special treatment for the UK.
I think there are other countries in the EU who agree with Britain about some reforms being needed, and Cameron could have tried to build support by working with them. That would both allow bigger changes and take away the 'Extra Sausage' view of Britain.
Things I'd like the see reformed are the CAP, since it's a huge part of the budget and unfairly benefits some countries over others, better oversight and limits on how money is spent - I know some people who work for the EU and it does not give me confidence they are spending the money wisely. There should also be some kind of penalty for countries who don't implement EU laws in a timely way. Otherwise it unfairly penalises those who do.
I don't think the 'Emergency Brake' thing on benefits is all that useful - it's not the benefits that are attracting people to Britain but the comparatively low unemployment rate here. Of course it is the sort of thing tabloid newspapers like which is probably why Cameron asked for it.
As for Schengen I think it's a good thing in principle, it's just causing problems in the current circumstances. Whereas the Euro was never a good idea and we were wise not to join it.
It seems this referendum is so divisive it's going to be damaging no matter what the result is. Even if we vote to stay I think it's already harmed our relationships with the other EU countries which is a real shame.
City of London - Greedy Bankers - Financial crisis - taxpayer bail out?
Jun 10th, 2016 - 09:05 am - Link - Report abuse 0CBI - Business greed - cheap foreign labour- divided society - taxpayer bail out?
Will UK working class vote Remain? Will they bother to vote at all?
Whatever.....This Referendum is on a knife edge.
9.47 10th May.
@14 Oh, stop reading the Daily Mail. The financial services markets contributes more to our economy than anything else. Of course, the EU wanted to get a share of the profits and they have not succeeded. It was important to protect it.
Jun 10th, 2016 - 10:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0@13 You make some good points. I think we can all agree the EU is flawed. I just want to be convinced the alternative is better for us all.
@15
Jun 10th, 2016 - 04:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well, don't expect me to convince you. Despite it's flaws, I am planning to vote to stay. I think we are better off in, especially given the alternatives.
15 Silly comment.
Jun 11th, 2016 - 08:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0In any event I made no reference to Camerons negotiations which he claims secured additional protections from City of London.
But now you've raised it, I was wondering whether -
The European Court will strike out Cameron's “concessions” after a referendum vote to remain.
And whether-
The continued success of the City of London is such a high priority for the UK working class compared to say the issues of failing local services, low wages and divided communities.
Exciting times.
9.44 11th May
@17 No, the concessions become effective immediately IF the U.K. votes to remain.
Jun 11th, 2016 - 11:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0If the largest contributor to our economy is the financial services industry then it benefits everyone. You are looking at it simplistically as if the financial services industry is a few rich bankers.
I do think you make an interesting point about class. It is certainly a class divide. Although 50% of immigrants (legal) are graduates they do not threaten jobs in the way unskilled immigrants do. (Or are perceived to) It could well come down to the educated voting primarily to remain and the uneducated voting to leave. (We know how Trump loves the uneducated and he wants us to vote to leave).
In actually fact unemployment is at a ten year low and the idea that immigrants are taking jobs is rather false. I suspect many that cannot get jobs are pretty unemployable.
But most of the grumbling is about illegal immigration and that will not be effected directly by the vote.
18
Jun 11th, 2016 - 01:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Understand that my reference to greedy bankers was followed by a question mark to invite discussion rather than make a statement of fact. At no point did I say that they represented all of the financial service industry.
The “concessions” do become effective immediately after the referendum but my understanding is that there is potential for a challenge in the European Court.
It's all about perceptions and the perception of Bankers following the financial crisis is not good.
The perception of some immigrants is not particularly good either, perhaps it's the press choosing to report on Asian paedophile grooming gangs, North African rapists and East European vagrants who shit in the streets. Generalisations are just so misleading.
However I would argue that the perception of many is that Immigrants have taken jobs and depressed wages. To argue otherwise won't persuade many in deprived areas of the U.K. And you're right they all have a vote. What you suspect of them in terms of their social status or employability in terms of how they might vote in the referendum is irrelevant.
I never believed that the UK would vote leave. Now I'm not so sure.
Bring on the 23rd. Not long to go now.
14.25 11th June
@ 18 Mmm................ Elaine are you a graduate by any chance ?
Jun 11th, 2016 - 05:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“The idea that Immigrants are taking jobs is false” - I can promise you that it is perfectly true ! We should not be surprised by this fact as it is precisely why most immigrated to the UK in the first place - for work and/or better wages ! Nothing wrong with that.
So far the economy has managed to create sufficient new jobs for there not to be a spike in unemployment.
Not sure that I agree that immigrant graduates do not pose a threat either because quite a few settle for unskilled work in spite of their qualifications - the money is still better than they could get at home.
The laws of supply and demand apply just as much to labour as any other commodity. If the supply goes up via immigration the price will fall or stagnate.
Need to be careful on the educated/uneducated front too. Simply having a degree is not necessarily the same as “being educated”.
@20 So you could argue that the immigrants have created jobs and by paying tax, growing the economy. Remember TB deliberately encouraged immigrants because there were not enough people paying in to the system to cover the outgoings.
Jun 11th, 2016 - 06:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I wasn't intending to insult those without further education but was musing over the poll that suggested the divide ran along the education tier. If you had been around the board for a while (maybe you have been) you would know I opposed the idea of forcing people into further education purely to reach government target. I completely agree that simple graduating is an indication of intelligence. Nor is it necessarily a guarantee of employment.
@ 21
Jun 11th, 2016 - 07:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Immigration, for me, is not a black & white issue in any sense of those words. Of course contributions are being made entrepreneurial, tax, culture, cuisine. There are also plenty of negatives - I could provide a list of names of immigrants all with a string of properties, all rented for strictly cash only (i.e. not paying taxes)
Who wouldn't want the brilliant Magdi Yaqoub in their country ?
I do feel there are massive problems with the recent rates of immigration in terms of assimilation, infrastructure, house prices, school places, NHS etc along with the ability to feed ourselves in the event of major crisis.
I am also far more cynical about TB's motives than you - specifically in the area of voting tendancies ?
A couple of questions also trouble me hugely - If migration is so beneficial to an economy, how come the countries experiencing most of it are currently in so much debt, getting worse ?
When I started work it was with an index linked pension. This changed to Final Salary. This changed to average salary. If immigrants are supposed to be saving our pensions - on the whole they don't seem to be making a very good job of it :-)
@22 All good points.
Jun 12th, 2016 - 08:56 am - Link - Report abuse 0”I could provide a list of names of immigrants all with a string of properties, all rented for strictly cash only (i.e. not paying taxes)” I would counter that it is not just immigrant landlords avoiding paying tax and this is a matter for the law to deal with.
I agree the mass immigration on TB's watch was ill-thought out and the infrastructure was not there. But all TB was looking at was the future decades when there will not be enough working people to support the huge welfare/pensions/NHS etc.
I think there are a lot of consideration for the change in our pension expectations. We live longer. There are no more jobs for life. Mismanagement of pension funds. The list is a long one.
TB would have sold his Grandmother for a vote, :)
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