they eu is trying too make a constitution.
in the netherlands we had an refererdum.
outcome??
NO => european constitution

I am pro Eu. So far it haves a lot of advantages that I don't want to loose.

I am also very happy with the Euro I love the currency =).

Isn't Denmark soon change his currency in Euro? Can't wait to collect Danish Euro =).

Ps: If you are interested about Eu and his possible future I recommend you to read the book
' United States of Europe'.

Im for the EU ... as a country that just got in ( Romania ) the changes that where made can be seen already . The fact that I can go trough countrys without that retard boarder check is great .

Also , from a gamers point of view : electronics and software prices have droped pretty significantly . Software options are much more varied , and we get gadgets pretty fast ... so yeah Im totally for it :P

i love xbox 360 said: TWRoO said: America is named after an Irishman i believe. Also surely they should be following us by your logic. well the uk and ireland are similar to remember we used to be the same country 2

Er, no, Ireland and the UK were never one country - you invaded and annexed us, that's not "one country" - we finally got rid of you in 1920, no way am I going back to a situation where a British idiot might have a say in Irish affairs, it's one of the reasons I'm so anti-EU.

A question I've wondered about for a long time is why on earth would we make Europe a federal country?

None of us have much in common beyond constant warring over the last 2000 years, let's face it, a Union like the EU would implode SO fast, think of the language barrier, cultural barrier and historical hatred - getting Irish, French, Germans, Dutch, Austrians, Danes, Greeks, Romanians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Luxemburgers, Swedes, Italians and English to work together is an impossible feat.

Also, none of us actually feel "European" - primarily because as an identity it doesn't exist, and never will - what kind of country is it when the citizens ignore their "nationality" at best, and hate it at worst?

I am American and not a member of the EU.  I have also not performed any indepth study of the EU's effects positive or negative in past or recent years.  Therefore I am not qualified to make a judgment about the EU's effectiveness nor its value as an entity.  However, I will say this: 

A nation must learn to truly govern itself well before it should aspire to govern another. 

I know of no nation which possesses a system of government so well-designed and perfectly implemented that I feel it would be qualified to do such.

The possible future integration of Turkey into the EU is the worlds greatest hope for middle east peace in my mind. So I'm very much in support of it.

However, The EU really needs to reform their agricultural subsidies policies, as they're just as bad as the U.S.

My thoughts ... Belgium and Brussels.

Then again I'm one of those overly-patriotic Americans and will be laughing all the way if you Europeans can't muster any patriotism for your union =D.

Looks like American culture still hasn't changed :P

@TWRoO 

England is Officially a country? It just so happens that it is part of the United Kingdom. It is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain being the Island that contains England, Scotland and Wales. It just so happens that they all have a unified political system.

makingmusic476 said: lightbleeder said: TWRoO said: America is named after an Irishman i believe. Also surely they should be following us by your logic. America is named after Americo Vespucio who was the first man to see land on Columbus' journey to America, he saw some island on the Caribbean I believe. America is not a country by the way, America is a whole continent that is divided strategically into North, Central, South and the Caribbean. People from the United States call themselves american just because european inmigrators (from 17th and 18th centuries I believe) called the United States "America" referring to the whole continent, but the name sticked locally and that's why US people use it as their name. But I'm form South America so I guess that makes me an american right?? Close, but not quite. His name was Amerigo Vespucci, and he was a map maker in the late 15th century and early 16th century. He was one of the first people to chart the new world, and since his name was on the maps, it was often associated with the new land.

Americo Vespucio is his name in Spanish, Amerigo Vespucci must be his name in Italian. Just like Cristobal Colon is Columbus' name in Spanish.

Americas name is because Americo Vespucio ,as some of you say .Actually Columbus never realized he had encountered a new continent .His plan was getting to India through the Atlantic and thats why he put his expedition called the Indias to the encountered land .They just thought they had reached the oriental end of India .Americo Vespucio was a component of one of the posterior expeditions of conquerors that realized though his map-making that they werent in India at all .

About the EU ,it has brought some good and bad things but in general its a possitive process .The prices on the euro zone have increased because many of the comerciants inside just transformed 100 cents of the prior currency into 1 euro and that was just wrong and went against the consumers and workers .On the other side the Euro has gotten very strong and now we can travel around the world for few money as it is so much more powerful than the dollar .Some countries have paid a lot of money to the EU because they were rich and others have received that money .My own country has benefited a LOT from those policies and it has reached a level akin to other european countries in some 15-20 years since 1986 when if left at its own forces there could have been a transition of 50-75 years until reaching european levels ...and in 75 years a lot of things can happen .Other countries as Portugal ,Greece ,Ireland have also benefited from those "structural funds " and now Romania ,Poland ,Bulgary etc are now benefiting from those policies and in 15 years they will be at a level they cant imagine right now .As a general processus its a triumph and it is creating a somewhat homogeneus market and a massive consumer base.The only letdown for this is that some countries like specially Germany and France have had to pay a lot of money for this but they are receiving somewhat back in the increased sales of their brands in the pushed territories .

In the social field not having to carry a visa to enter other countries and the Schengen agreements are truly great and it gives a lot of freedom for citizens to leave their country and search for work in other communitary countries if the situation is bad in their own .That prevents some local administrations in determinate countries to legislate against the majority of the population because they have the option to leave the country and the local oligocracies those administrations defend cant allow that .On the bad side as the actual economic differences between the Europe of the 15 and the new expanded Europe of the 25 are so big that it has translated into a massive arrival of people from those poorer countries to the likes of Germany ,Spain ,France ,Italy ,Austria ,Holland etc .Some times thats good because they are workforce ,but others its bad because they are socially unstructured people so they can easily fall into delincuency or poverty .

In the politics field the autonomy of the countries have been somewhat diminished but they have still a lot of room left .Each country has his inner politics as the central focus right now .If the political convergency had to grow it should be after a federalism system ...and thats the way it is intended .The proccess will be slow and hard but steps are being made each year .

In all the other fields as collaboration against terrorism ,diseases ,natural disasters ,importation and exportation of goods etc the EU is a resounding success .

The thing USA dont likes and fears is that ,slowly for sure but without pause ,the EU can find its own voice in international and military affairs .That seems still quite far from the current situation but some steps are being made in that direction and the new Galileo satellite system can more than rival GPS into precision and potential military uses .USA dont want to have their will opposed in the military field ,specially by the European Union that being way closer to the international scenario of the key issues (Middle East ,Africa ,Rusia ,Israel ,Iran ,etc ) would be the one to hear.Besides if the EU develops a big military power the US bases in the EU would have to be gradually abandoned and USA would lose a lot of its strategic position .The NATO is a solid alliance but once the EU could rival the USA its a question of time (and not a lot ) until the control of the bases passed into european hands exclusively.Basically USA fears that a united Europe and with a unified military command would be again a power like the Roman Empire that we have to recall was the last time Europe was united over a single governement .

As for the UK position about it ....well ,its clear the "independency " flag will always have tons of people behind specially if you can add it up with some legends ,folklore and historical facts (or made up facts ) that show that you are "different " to your neighboors .I couldnt care less about the UK keeping their inches and other measuring systems as a local things .Entering the UE would be beneficious for the UK in the economic and even social field but I suppose they have too much archaich things to leave behind to feel comfortable with entering the EU .As for their independence feelings I would understand those even better if they didnt follow obediently each and every whisper from US.But thats another story .