Germany and France vow to strengthen ties

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

The question I struggle to find an answer for is....currently 40% of our trade is with the EU, so would leaving create further opportunities for trade with other countries and just as importantly, could the EU write off so much trade?

It could be done, but at the moment with the global economic outlook so low it could be hard to find the right trading partners. Plus you've got the fact that we are right next door to Europe so transportation costs are relatively low, particularly if you use things like the Tunnel, which as fuel costs rise it is an important thing to consider.
However, at the same time you have to factor in trade tariffs, I'd wager that a few nations will be putting them up in an effort to stimulate internal growth to try and get companies selling country x goods to country x rather than country y.
Could the EU write off so much trade? In the short term perhaps not, in the long term though I'm sure they would adapt, they did fine before we joined them after all...but I'm not so sure we could afford to shun our closest trading partners in an era when money is tight.


I feel sorry for Greece, it's in a no-win situation. Samaras wants, no, needs the Greek bailout, however he also needs to try and keep himself in office and not have the Greek government overthrown in a 'Greek spring' or a military coup. So he's keeping all the plates spinning by a mixture of promises, lies and prayers, just like any other politician in the world, however the problems is that he's spinning lead plates on a molecule thin stick of rice paper, and that's not going to last forever.
If you think there's a bad immigration problem now in Europe, just wait until Greece gets kicked out of the Euro, can you say Exodus? Sure, there'll be tighter border controls, but that's not going to stop the illegals, and you know that once they're in the system, they don't come out of the system again.

It's easy to paint the Greeks, the Spanish, the Italians, the Portuguese, and anyone else who is getting into economic difficulties in Europe as lazy and incompetent, and deserving of their own fate. I'm sure that will be of great comfort to those without medicine and those who are struggling to exist. If that helps you get by, then by all means, get your brush out and paint those stereotypes, and they'll be sure to paint the Nazi stereotype in return and we can all butt heads and shout at each other as the boat sinks underneath us.

The fact is, even if half of the EU leaves it, the other half are still going to be stuck in a holed boat without a paddle, trying to keep a doomed idea afloat. It's easy to point fingers, it's harder to find a solution that will not result in chaos. I don't envy any EU politician right now, it must be a bit like trying to organise something politically or religiously motivated on GT...