Re: And it comes down to france
I believe 5 EU nations require mandatory military training from the EU-15. From the EU-10 its is around 7 that require it. Poland, Hungary and Czech do it and they are part of NATO.
Re: And it comes down to france
]
It is called keeping old faithful relevant. EU is a dying entity. UK has more in common with India than they do with Poland.
Re: And it comes down to france
LMAO!! A dying Entity? Then why did the US just take the EU to the WTO?
Re: And it comes down to france
Yes a dying entity... it is going to be a laggard on the global economic scene in the next 30 yrs as a bloc..siht I would give more credence to Japan before I give to the EU. Old, decrepit and stuck in some another time..reminds me of the khilafah. But EU atleast has some legs
Re: And it comes down to france
Right that is why after the EU customs union the US went for NAFTA and CAFTA? That is why the EU has a better terms of trade it the US? Laggard on the Global economic scene, yet at the WTO it is seen as the biggest market for products, the US lags behind in this department and gives more subsidies over all than the EU.
Re: And it comes down to france
The countries that currently have mandatory conscription have small population that cannot yield large armies even through conscription.
For example, Denmark has mandotory conscription. However, Denmark is such an insignificant country that its entire population is less than the size of just a single city in England.
Re: And it comes down to france
Maddy,
So Turkey is gonna provide the conscript army?
The thing is, in thousands of years of European history this is an unheard of period of peace. Can Europe really go 100 years without almost destroying one another? Doubtful. Europe is taking the peace dividend to the Max, but in the process they have become irrelevant from the standpoint of power. Perhaps the golden age of diplomacy is upon us, but history really proves that when France can barely muster a Division, that somebody is due to invade. They can barely get a bunch of peacekeepers down to the Ivory Coast. Now if they used the money that otherwise would be spent on the military to ramp up their economy, then that would be understandable. As it is, the only thing that has gotten more powerful is the naps, holidays and rhetoric. Far more entreprenureal energy in post Soviet Eastern Europe.
And CM, you need a dose of the real world. Business does not revolve around the WTO and treaties. The entreprenurial vigor of a government, countries and their people has far more to do with success than these fat arsed organizations you love.
Re: And it comes down to france
Medic what is the population of Poland? What is its economic weight and its power within the EU?
Re: And it comes down to france
Right shall we look at pharma companies? Or the seven sisters of oil? What sector would you like to look at? The EU is far from beaten, look at the banking sector and good old automobiles.
Re: And it comes down to france
CM, april of 2005, the US added 1,066,000 (in millions) of new construction. That is essentially the value of one WTC every day. If the EU were flying, then unemployment would not be such a problem. Everytime the dollar drops the EU products become less competitive and unemployment looks worse. When you have nearly Socialist Governments that are not pro-business, that is what happens. And as a group, Europes spending on social benefits has vastly outstripped its economic growth. The creation of yet another layer of government above each state will make matters even worse.
Re: And it comes down to france
How is the EU going to be the biggest market when the avg percapita GDP is going to decline ala Saudi in teh next 30 years…with an aging population ( I think someone recently schooled you on the concept of “woking populations”, so I will not waste my time), removal of American security umbrella, that will mean ramping up on the defense and techonology investment further eating up their GDP, less spending on social services and the rise of China, INdia, Brazil and Russia (newsflash: Russia will do better all alone than with taking on the EU liabiities in the next 30 years, also you will see a realignment of the baltic states and the eastern european economies forming greater partnerships with slavic russia than the the French) taking away a bigger piece of the growing pie, EU is a dying phenomenon. Its best days were last year.
Re: And it comes down to france
But the US is at a high compared to the Euro just now. It reached the highest it has ever reached against the Euro today. So what does that mean? But like i said choose a sector and lets discuss which nation is more competitive and efficient.
PD do you know what BS you are spewing? Do you seriously think the US will allow Mother Russia to influence areas where 7 oil pipelines are under construction? I mean how are you?
Re: And it comes down to france
CM, its called BRICs. Every large corporation in the world adn even midsize ones now have a Brics strategy. They don't and couldn't care less or don't feel the need to have an EU strategy. There is a reason for that, my little donut. It is called gorwth in markets...
Re: And it comes down to france
Usually I dont agree with David Brooks editorials/opinions. Just quoting a few items that were interesting and conflicting with waht CM had led us to believe regarding EU and I dont even know what that means, is it economic or european union? Either case it appears no union can exist, except the American Union aka USA. Soviet Union was history pretty soon EU will be too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/02/opinion/02brooks.html?
Re: And it comes down to france
I never thought i would have to side with CM but destiny is strange.
Look Europe is far better than US in terms of quality of life for a native citizen. They are little bit xenophobic, but when u r in and know the language u can get used to their style of living.And I dont think US is any different in this respect.
In terms of security it is one of the best place to live. And its more beautifull than US.:p .
One more thing is that Europe cares little about religion, unlike evangelic US of A.
Then having fought so many wars, they are basicaly war tired. The people here now know that its a waste to fight a war. U dont gain anything by doing so.. but inturn loose everything. People here enjoy their life much more than the average american does. They travell the most abroad and has a broader outlook unlike the poor Bush who never set foot outside the country in his first couple of years as american president.
Then to military.. Europe can produce military power much more efficiently than US could do and within short time. Well they dont spent for defence as they are not threatened. But if they are threatened... then they will do so.
Unemployment rate at least in germany may be due to large unskilled turkish population in the country. Yes and also because of the laziness of some of the Germans to not to work as they get unemployment benefit and can live a life with that money easily.
Re: And it comes down to france
^ I haven’t seen a person write a three paragraph post and be wrong on all points. Kudos pal! :k:
all these things..lifestyle, socialist governmental policies, productivity, military power..etc..costs money chanda. The pie is not infinite, when the restof the world is busy working 10 hrs a day and increaisng competitiveness, and the french are protesting against a 35hr workweek..there is a fundamental problem. add billions to the security needs of the EU once the US umbrella is removed…defensive spending is about protecting assets, as your asset base declines over time, you either wither away into insignificance or spend money ala Pakistan to retain what little you have.
Re: And it comes down to france
Germany and another 9 countries (total of 10) have already ratified it.
Re: And it comes down to france
Look PD-- i dont want to take up issue with u now. U as well as i know that 8 hours or 10 hours.. its more on the efficiency of the work than the amount of time u spent at work that matters.
Why do the european require an army . What is their security needs. They dont have a hitleric state just about to erupt. Its only US who demonize people. They are mutually dependent. Cut out europe from America.. and u know where US stands.
The NAto is working in Afghanistan.. in serbia etc.
I am not saying that Europeans are angels.. no .. not at all. But America requires europe..Its the truth.
Will u consider China or India or Brazil as US new partners in trade and military to Europe. Would u believe US will be comfortable with the above mentioned countries.
What asset have they that they need to protect. U mean to say that one need to re-colonize to help their economic interest.
Why do they need a large army for!!!!
Most of the men have military or civil tranining so they can be called up on for any eventualities. Atleast that is the case in germany.
Guzzy yes.. i was wrong.. Germany had said yes.
Re: And it comes down to france
For CM and Visnnevk: Read below and I would also urge you to pick up this week’s Mckinsey Quarterly, it has a long article on effect of aging on global economics, particularly Europe, it is replete with figures..for your benefit. What OG and others are saying is correct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/opinion/03friedman.html?
A Race to the Top
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: June 3, 2005
Bangalore, India
It was extremely revealing traveling from Europe to India as French voters (and now Dutch ones) were rejecting the E.U. constitution - in one giant snub to President Jacques Chirac, European integration, immigration, Turkish membership in the E.U. and all the forces of globalization eating away at Europe’s welfare states. It is interesting because French voters are trying to preserve a 35-hour work week in a world where Indian engineers are ready to work a 35-hour day. Good luck.
Voters in “old Europe” - France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy - seem to be saying to their leaders: stop the world, we want to get off; while voters in India have been telling their leaders: stop the world and build us a stepstool, we want to get on. I feel sorry for Western European blue collar workers. A world of benefits they have known for 50 years is coming apart, and their governments don’t seem to have a strategy for coping.
One reason French voters turned down the E.U. constitution was rampant fears of “Polish plumbers.” Rumors that low-cost immigrant plumbers from Poland were taking over the French plumbing trade became a rallying symbol for anti-E.U. constitution forces. A few weeks ago Franz Müntefering, chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, compared private equity firms - which buy up failing businesses, downsize them and then sell them - to a “swarm of locusts.”
The fact that a top German politician has resorted to attacking capitalism to win votes tells you just how explosive the next decade in Western Europe could be, as some of these aging, inflexible economies - which have grown used to six-week vacations and unemployment insurance that is almost as good as having a job - become more intimately integrated with Eastern Europe, India and China in a flattening world.
To appreciate just how explosive, come to Bangalore, India, the outsourcing capital of the world. The dirty little secret is that India is taking work from Europe or America not simply because of low wages. It is also because Indians are ready to work harder and can do anything from answering your phone to designing your next airplane or car. They are not racing us to the bottom. They are racing us to the top.
Indeed, there is a huge famine breaking out all over India today, an incredible hunger. But it is not for food. It is a hunger for opportunity that has been pent up like volcanic lava under four decades of socialism, and it’s now just bursting out with India’s young generation.
“India is the oldest civilization, the largest democracy and the youngest population - almost 70 percent is below age 35 and almost 50 percent is 25 and under,” said Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express. Next to India, Western Europe looks like an assisted-living facility with Turkish nurses.
Sure, a huge portion of India still lives in wretched slums or villages, but more and more of the young cohort are grasping for something better. A grass-roots movement is now spreading, demanding that English be taught in state schools - where 85 percent of children go - beginning in first grade, not fourth grade. “What’s new is where this movement is coming from,” said the Indian commentator Krishna Prasad. “It’s coming from the farmers and the Dalits, the lowest groups in society.” Even the poor have been to the cities enough to know that English is now the key to a tech-sector job, and they want their kids to have those opportunities.
The Indian state of West Bengal has the oldest elected Communist government left in the world today. Some global technology firms recently were looking at outsourcing there, but told the Communists they could not do so because of the possibility of worker strikes that might disrupt the business processes of the companies they work for. No problem. The Communist government declared information technology work an “essential service,” making it illegal for those workers to strike. Have a nice day.
“This is not about wages at all - the whole wage differential thing is going to reduce very quickly,” said Rajesh Rao, who heads the innovative Indian game company, Dhruva. It is about people who have been starving “finally seeing the ability to realize their dreams.” Both Infosys and Wipro, India’s leading technology firms, received more than one million applications last year for a little more than 10,000 job openings.
Yes, this is a bad time for France and friends to lose their appetite for hard work - just when India, China and Poland are rediscovering theirs.