The Worlds Most Desirable Modern Coin Ever

They along with their northern neighbors are the ones supporting and paying for it, so they should have control of it. I wasn't advocating that, but since you asked....

I was just using Germans for an example, sorry I should have been more clear saying all Europeans in the EU should vote directly for a President.

 

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I actually thought you meant that, but i just want to be clear. I think your correct, BTW. They need universal sufferage on a governing body that has this level of control over their lives.

Ruben

 

This idea that the EU should be structured just like the US sounds very ... American. Just as you are "governed" by people who are not necessarily from your home town or state, parts of our governments are not "from here". I don't have a single problem with that - it would get problematic if, say, Neelie Kroes acted primarily as a Dutch and not as a European Commissioner for Competition. But that also applies to the level below: A federal German minister who is from, say, Bavaria would do a bad job if s/he merely had the well-being of Bavaria in mind.

Guess I already mentioned that we do elect the European Parliament. Now you may say that it does not have enough power. True. On the other hand, with pretty much every modification of the Treaties it has got a little more power. The most powerful body in the EU is the Council which consists of representatives of democratically elected member state governments. The Commission has a lot of influence, but then in many countries the "ministerial bureaucracy" basically develops new bills that the parliament then decides about ...

Christian

 

Christian

Say what you want about it being verty American but every Eurpoean should have direct representation in the EU, and that means a direct vote on leadership. There is no place in US government, almost no place, where decisions are not made by MY government which I vote for (or against). decisions don't come from some far away place. I vote for the President, and I have equal repsresentation in Congress (actually not perfectly equal but that is another story).

Where we get into trouble is organizations like the MTA and the Port Authorty that have no responsiblity to any constituency but themsleves and is a DISASTER.

What are you going to do when Greece decides to give the finger to the EU followed by Spain and Italy? They are sovergn nations and they can do that tomorrow, and might very well do so.

Ruben

 

Christian

Say what you want about it being verty American but every Eurpoean should have direct representation in the EU, and that means a direct vote on leadership. There is no place in US government, almost no place, where decisions are not made by MY government which I vote for (or against). decisions don't come from some far away place. I vote for the President, and I have equal repsresentation in Congress (actually not perfectly equal but that is another story).

Where we get into trouble is organizations like the MTA and the Port Authorty that have no responsiblity to any constituency but themsleves and is a DISASTER.

What are you going to do when Greece decides to give the finger to the EU followed by Spain and Italy? They are sovergn nations and they can do that tomorrow, and might very well do so.

Ruben

 

strange i thought that spain had a thriving ice hockey league...........

 

Hello

Can the Royalist please take a moment to notice that the gentleman speaking specified the sport of Hockey, not Soccer. Hockey is an offspring of Kouff and Pale Mail. Soccer, I have no idea how they came up with a sport that says you can not use your hands...but I guess Spain might be the ruling European Champion.


Amanda

 

how about Cricket. Where did it come from?

 

Agreed, except that the US concept of "leadership" does not necessarily apply elsewhere in the world. Look at the German federal level for example: Our president has a mostly representational office; we do not elect him directly but the president is elected by a body called Federal Assembly (the Bundestag members and delegates from the states). The chief of government is the chancellor who is elected by the Bundestag. Of course I know, before I vote, who is which party's "chancellor candidate" ...

(As for such formal questions, last time I checked, you did not actually elect the US president ... unless you are part of the Electoral College. )

Seems we have a problem here if you, almost as a premise, consider the EU governing bodies to be "far away" while yours are not ... per definition or law of American nature? Where I live, we have several "levels" of government - I vote for my borough (part of the city) council, the city council, the state parliament, the federal parliament ... and the European Parliament. I am used to, and agree with, the concept of different issues being decided upon by different bodies at different levels. And when it comes to matters that affect the EU as a whole, the decision should in my opinion be made at that level. I am all for moving even more power away from the European Council and the European Commission to the European Parliament. As I mentioned, this has been an ongoing process for years, and it will take more time.

They are sovereign in the sense that they can leave the European Union, yes. But every country that joins the EU gives up some of its sovereignty. For example, there are two main types of law in the EU - "regulations" which are directly binding law everywhere in the Union, and "directives" which are framework law and are to be shaped/adapted by each member state by a certain deadline. And yes, a member state may choose to ignore such deadlines - but then it could be taken to court (infringement proceedings) and might be sentenced to a fine. By and large, however, such cases are resolved politically, at some early stage ...

Christian

 

The Finnish gentleman actually referred to ice hockey - not to football (what you call "soccer") and not to hockey. Ice hockey is pretty popular here in DE too. Except that this year's world championship has not been that great for the German team so far.

Christian

 

That is interesting. I always felt the Parliamentary system had a weakness in that the Prime minister is in fact elected by the Government and indirectly by the Party. That as aside, the nuts and bolts problem, as i see it, is that the elected governments that determine spending and taxes are not the same as the ones determining monetary policy. That is a HUGE, and immediate problem. States in the US have to have a balanced budget every year or POOF.. they stop making payments on salaries. They can not mandate an expense that they can't finance. The Federal Government, however, can and does (thank god).

Actually, I was just thinking. Do you pay taxes to the EU?

Ruben

 

You know, giving this some deep thought, I don't think there is much that even the Austrian Mint, even if they had Julie Andrews to help them, could do much for this design

 

Chris, if your married never ever tell your wife this..

 

Yes, that is a major problem in the current "setup" of the euro area and of the EU as a whole. And while I am all for the common currency, I have said and written for many years that a currency union can only work with a higher degree of harmonization. The optimists (and I was one of them) however believed that, once we have the euro, that insight would prevail. Has worked in other cases before - set something up that is not perfect yet, and work on it while it's running. Think of a bicycle that keeps moving on only if you constantly keep it moving. (Yeah, I know, a bike can go downhill almost by itself. ) Whether that "keep moving, keep improving" method will work here, I don't know.

Yes and no. Or rather "no, but". The EU's budget (annual volume about €150bn; the budgets of the 27 single member states combined have a volume of more than €6,000bn) is fed from various sources, mostly from member state contributions according to the country's GNP. Other important sources are customs duties and a certain share of the VAT payments.

Christian

 

What is funny, I think, is that the mint did not even correct the spelling. The designer wrote "lac" - it should say "lats". But heck, that is what the other side is for. Such kid's designs are fun, in my opinion, if you only do it rarely. Here is the "laatste gulden" (last guilder) from the Netherlands, for example:



And no, that is not a four-legged potato with a cabbage head. It's a lion.

Christian

 

I know many ideas sound American to Europeans.

I was not in any way saying you had to mirror our system, which has its own flaws. I was simply commenting on the lack of a popular vote to some entity that had direct control over regulatory issuance, monetary policy, and the like. To have these bodies setting this policy not directly answerable to popular vote I simply feel is a good way to have beauracracy out of touch with reality and doing as they feel. We have this bad enough here in the states, but at least we can elect a new governor to curtail state officials, and a new president can hopefully curtail Federal officials.

Regulatory burden is the real job killer. Most do not realize how much expense and how big an impediment to business these regulators are. I am not talking about industry wishing to kill rivers and poison children, I am talking in some cities it takes 8 different applications and fees in order to even start a business.

I was really commenting on European competitiveness Christian. I am afraid what will happen to the EU under the current structure. I simply do not see it as a good way to grow economically.

 

http://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/london-2012/~/media/Images/Products/L/LUK50IS2/LUK50IS2_01_gray.ashx?as=1&h=234&w=234



this was also designed by a child after a competition on a kids programme. there is a rarer packaged version which is in a "blue peter" card.

 

It is super equal when you live in Montana, or North Dakota.

Hello

It is not leaving the EU that is the biggest threat. It is a simple rebellion against the austerity measures by an elected Greek Government that just refuses to cooperate, lets the country go bankrupt, or even just prints its own euros. The Germans are going to have to consider how much they enjoy taking vacations on the Greek nude beaches very soon. The Euro has fuels a create economic export engine for the Germans, that they have very much enjoyed. The inequity of the artificially strong Euro has now come home to roost. The Greeks may not actually be able to pay its debt in hard currency without sparking an extreme political reaction, which can act as a conflagration of the Euro zone across debt ridden Southern Europe.

See, the problem is that the debt of the European Union is not so severe in itself. But the terms of repayment in the recession is crippling government ability to handle the problem, virtually locking moderately debt ridden countries into a gold Standard like economic condition.

Amanda

 

Greece has nude beaches? Oh my.........

Shades of Helen.........or rather, Helen without the shades.