Monday, October 17, 2011
No no no, EFTA you
Just to prove I don't operate a policy of democratic centralism at this blog, the poll on which European 'club' an independent Scotland should join didn't exactly go the way I would have wanted! 60% of you voted for EFTA, and just 39% for the EU. If I was to hazard a guess at the main reason, it would be a feeling that the madness of the Common Fisheries Policy can never be properly reformed 'from within'. Which may well be true, but I still feel that consideration is dwarfed by the bigger picture of not having direct representation at Europe's top table.
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That is the reason I voted EU and quoted the ex Prime Minister of Norway, who knew a bit about that situation. Her hands were tied by regulations over which she had no control.
ReplyDeleteAin't it a bugger, James, when polls tell you what you don't want to hear!!! :)
Our unionist friends are having this problem at the moment. The polls are just not telling them what they want to hear. Great anti it.
ReplyDeleteI voted EFTA the EU can stick its petty rules and regulations.
The EU is a nasty fascist, undemocratic organisation. Scotland should get well away as soon as we can. Trading links via EFTA & EEA are fine thanks
ReplyDeleteFor me it isn't just the fisheries policy.
ReplyDeleteI'm unconvinced that at something like £500 million a year - my guesstimate of the difference between EU contributions and "voluntary" EFTA ones, add salt to taste - the price is right for a modest say in EU legislative output. Another consideration is that it'd be easier to leave EFTA for the EU at some future time, if that seemed like the best thing to do, than it would be to head in the opposite direction.
Overall, whether EFTA vs EU, Sterling vs EURO vs a new currency, or many other problems, it seems like it would be better to to have second-best solutions available quickly rather than trying to get everything just perfect first time. YMMV.
I was going to vote EU, but was too late. I'm just not sure though.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the EU, but I feel it's gone too far. It needs to be scaled back a bit. There seems to be too many unelected people in positions of power which is incredibly undemocratic, although ironically I can't help feeling that the turning point was in 1979 when the parliament was established. Parliaments tend to try and grab as much power as they can, partly to try and make themselves indispensable, but also because politicians just like power.
There's obviously talk of the EU taking on even MORE powers to try and solve the Euro crisis, and this homogenisation will surely lead to the same problems we see in the UK, only tenfold. It's a shame this can't be taken as an opportunity to admit that the Euro was a step too far,and shrink things back a bit. I'm getting the feeling the EU in its current form is every bit as unsustainable as devolution in Scotland, and something's got to give: either it scales back and returns to being a vehicle for European countries to work together; or we go the whole hog and become a European super state. The status quo isn't working.
"There's obviously talk of the EU taking on even MORE powers to try and solve the Euro crisis"
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's possible that will only take place within the Eurozone, in which case there might be a middle way for Scotland if it retained the pound (or adopted its own currency, which is much less likely). I know that in theory all EU members others than the UK and Denmark are obliged to move towards euro membership, but Sweden seem to have got round that problem easily enough!