But wait the EU is just a trade body

[Thomas]

Spoken like a true Europhile!! Those 27 countries now get more items on the agenda passed since they greatly reduced the power of veto....and as the majority of EU members, just like Ireland did for several decades, get financially subsidised by that undemocratic entity , then it is hardly surprising that those countries 'play ball'....Who knows, even Eire may one day change their tune following their nascent change to being an EU subsidiser, if their annual  EU subsidy continues to grow.

Your point about a group of nations having the ability to arrange better terms is undoubtedly valid however, albeit somewhat obvious, as the aphorism of there being 'Strength in Numbers' is  well proven.

Go easy on him stevlin. Gerry is increasingly becoming hysterical as the countdown approaches d day.

[Stevlin]

I dont see what your point is, 27 countries, together, using their power together to get a better deal on the open market. Do you think its smart going alone, paying more.

You do realise, a eu country doesn't have to take a loan, they decide for themselves. They can go to the open market on their own to get loans, but that would be really stupid.

Spoken like a true Europhile!! Those 27 countries now get more items on the agenda passed since they greatly reduced the power of veto....and as the majority of EU members, just like Ireland did for several decades, get financially subsidised by that undemocratic entity , then it is hardly surprising that those countries 'play ball'....Who knows, even Eire may one day change their tune following their nascent change to being an EU subsidiser, if their annual  EU subsidy continues to grow.

Your point about a group of nations having the ability to arrange better terms is undoubtedly valid however, albeit somewhat obvious, as the aphorism of there being 'Strength in Numbers' is  well proven.

[Thomas]

Lol...Thomas, the born-wind up.merchant pisstaker out of everyone and thing.

I dont know who is taking the piss more dyno.......me or gerry.

In all my years i have never ever seen a so called irishman mispell the word "craic" as "crack".

I like Yanis.

I don't have such a problem with anti-EU sentiment from.that sort of perspective,

same here dyno. Im reading quite a bit about him at the minute as i said , and he is pretty damming about the eu and how greece has been treated by them.

[Borg Refinery]

Lol...Thomas, the born-wind up.merchant pisstaker out of everyone and thing.

im enjoying reading a lot of stuff at the minute written by this guy

Yanis Varoufakis explains how EU 'poisoned politics of Europe with crime against logic'
THE EU poisoned the politics and democracy of Europe, by committing a crime against logic in the middle of the worst crisis of capitalism, former Greek financial minister Yanis Varoufakis claimed in a newly-resurfaced debate.

Mr Varoufakis also suggested that the eurozone will break up, but not be because of crisis-hit Greece or Italy but because of Germany, as Berlin will be the first country to drop out of the bloc and print Deutsche Marks.

He said: "The euro will break up, if it breaks up, I am not wishing that it does, I am simply describing the future as I see it.

"The way it will happen is that Germany will leave the euro once the Berlin political class has had enough of the riff raff, asking Greeks, the Italian, the French, the Portuguese and so on.

"The moment they start sniffing in the wind that possibility they might have to bail out 2.7 trillion euros of Italian debt, believe you me, the Bundesbank already has a plan in the drawer for printing Deutsche Marks."

I like Yanis.

I don't have such a problem with anti-EU sentiment from.that sort of perspective, but when folks ask me to listen to hardcore billionaires club types like Richard Tice,or Alt-Right MP's saying it's not neoliberal enough for their tastes, you can see why I'll dismiss their criticisms.

I posted that Henkel thing on a thread btw, I did think it was interesting..

[Thomas]

Brexiteers are right - the EU is trying to punish Britain for leaving, senior German MEP says

'They want to punish Britain and make sure that no one else is leaving the European Union'

Hans-Olaf Henkel accused Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator, of planning to impose a bad exit agreement on Britain as a warning to other countries tempted to leave the EU.

[Thomas]

im enjoying reading a lot of stuff at the minute written by this guy

Yanis Varoufakis explains how EU 'poisoned politics of Europe with crime against logic'
THE EU poisoned the politics and democracy of Europe, by committing a crime against logic in the middle of the worst crisis of capitalism, former Greek financial minister Yanis Varoufakis claimed in a newly-resurfaced debate.

Mr Varoufakis also suggested that the eurozone will break up, but not be because of crisis-hit Greece or Italy but because of Germany, as Berlin will be the first country to drop out of the bloc and print Deutsche Marks.

He said: "The euro will break up, if it breaks up, I am not wishing that it does, I am simply describing the future as I see it.

"The way it will happen is that Germany will leave the euro once the Berlin political class has had enough of the riff raff, asking Greeks, the Italian, the French, the Portuguese and so on.

"The moment they start sniffing in the wind that possibility they might have to bail out 2.7 trillion euros of Italian debt, believe you me, the Bundesbank already has a plan in the drawer for printing Deutsche Marks."

[Thomas]

Paddy finds a sandwich with two wires stickin out of it. He phones the police and says "Bejesas I've just found a sandwich dat looks like a bomb."
The operator asks, "is it tickin?, Paddy says "No I tink it's beef

[Thomas]

The Eu clearance market is worth 735T euro and London looks after 90% of this, that's soon gone.

Singapore on thames will take some beating gerry.

[Thomas]

There is no craic ( you spelled it wrong my english friend) about it gerry. Im simply saying its not 15 weeks , but now less .

Speed typing trying to keep up replying to you. But I can assure you I'm sitting in Dublin. Happy for the mods to confirm this, I'm sure they have a way of doing this through the IP address.

gerry i make typos all the time mate , and that wasnt a typo.

...but carry on with the charade. Im enjoying it.

[GerryT]

There is no craic ( you spelled it wrong my english friend) about it gerry. Im simply saying its not 15 weeks , but now less .

Speed typing trying to keep up replying to you. But I can assure you I'm sitting in Dublin. Happy for the mods to confirm this, I'm sure they have a way of doing this through the IP address.

[GerryT]

Well, according to these guys..

https://gript.ie/ireland-eu-budget-contribution-going-up/

.. expensive for the Micks and not so bad for the UK.

I don't know how the Irish managed it, but the Republic's net contribution to the EU is set to exceed that of the UK. So first of all, thanks for taking up the slack. Plus, a lot of the loans will be raised in the City of London and that can't be bad.

Ta Gerry. 

I post earlied the amount the UK is planning to borrow to combat c19, which is more that the full EU27 put together and you then link the contribution IRL is going to make for the next 7 years contribution (just over 2b a yr). The article also doesn't mention if this takes into account the money IRL receives from the EU. SO confusing two things, the EU 7yr budget and the C19 recovery fund and then not using most likely gross figures. Very like Johnson and his 350m a week big red bus. Not great journalism, looks Irish but reads like a UK tabloid.

London can compete for this business but it won't be handed anything. You left out that the EU has given London a 2 yr extension for Financial clearing access to the EU. But that's bad news as in 2 yrs time London will loose this. The Eu clearance market is worth 735T euro and London looks after 90% of this, that's soon gone.

[Thomas]

Paddy, doing a crossword, asks Mick, "Flightless bird from Iceland, 6 & 7 letters"

"That's a doddle..." said Mick "Frozen "

[Thomas]

I think your refering to the other 48% of UK people that aren't happy with Brexit, their not "the EU" Their the UK. But of course your now going to give examples how the EU interfered in the UK brexit process, how the EU did x, y and z to stop the UK leaving. You really are having a laugh.

we had a vote gerry and the  majority voted out. I know it hard for you to understand , but that how demcoracy works ,unlike in the eu where they dont take no for an answer.

Well the uk is saying no now , and its coming across pretty refreshing watching brussell stand with their mouths open in disbelief.

[Thomas]

Your starting to sound like another looney Englishman twisting what the EU is doing.

gerry.

Im starting to come to my senses you mean  , as are many across europe .

[Thomas]

The EU has open borders,

we know that s one of the main thing people dont like about the eu.

t makes perfect sense to share contact/trace info around the EU, as people move freely

.

no it doesnt , and this is why many citizens across the eu are in uproar about it.

My brother in law has lived in south east france for twenty years , and this among many other issues has the french growing increasingly concerned about the eu.

As ever , the eu wont take no notice in theri quest for complete dominance acorss the european continent.

The ordinary european citizens dont like this at all.

The EU GDPR system of managing peoples info and security is one reason the UK is looking to leave the EU. It's a robust system and something the rogue UK doesn't want to be tied to.

well done the uk government. It seems they are reading off the same page of the same book as many european citizens who dont like it either.