Sunday, 16 May 2010

Where would you like to see The United Kingdom?

Woman On A Raft linked to an excellent diagram in the comments a week ago, which looks like this:It doesn't show a lot of the other organisations and treaty bodies of which the UK is a member, such as NATO, UN, G7, G20 and so on; neither does it show that there are four constituent nations in The United Kingdom itself, but it's a good place to start.

Personally, I'd like to see the UK in the outer pale pink circle, or even better in the dark blue area at the perimeter.

19 comments:

Sue said...

The Dark Blue bit. No stress there :)

Indyanhat said...

Me I like the white bit that surrounds the dark blue bit a lot more than the dark blue bit and if pushed actually prefer the table coloured bit beyond the white bit!!!

Quiet_Man said...

"Where would you like to see The United Kingdom?"

Nearer the equator.

Or the darker blue bit.

James Higham said...

Easy - nowhere on the diagram. Independent. There's a party for this too - called the UKIP.

AntiCitizenOne said...

In the same area as Switzerland.

Anonymous said...

Not since Crecy and Agincourt has
England stood alone.We cant even turn our backs on the Celtic fringe any more. Get real,stop
putting cream in your coffee.


Non Insular

Mark Wadsworth said...

S, I, WM, JH, AC1, thanks, those are proper answers.

Anon, you were too lazy to answer the question, weren't you?

Bill Quango MP said...

Agree with AC1. In the free trade area. But does this allow us no visa in europe?
That's all the Uk really wants from the EU.

Mark Wadsworth said...

BQ, visas are a separate, and very minor topic. They can be done bilaterally anyway.

Weekend Yachtsman said...

In the blue.

It's the only way we can manage our own affairs, which is the beginning and foundation of everything else.

Mulligan said...

"There's a party for this too - called the UKIP."

They shall certainly be getting my vote in European elections despite some of their more idiotic supporters being entirely responsible for keeping Ed Balls in parliament.

Furor Teutonicus said...

Anonymous said...

Not since Crecy and Agincourt has
England stood alone.


HUH???

What about the Scottish, Welsh and Irish troops that were there? Or the Dutch?, The Swiss and German Mercenaries?

England has never done ANYTHING "alone".

woman on a raft said...

Here's a comparison of clubs:

Switzerland (3 clubs)
Council of Europe
EFTA
Schengen

UK (4 clubs)
Council of Europe
EU Customs Union
European Economic Area
European Union

It's only like gym membership. Of course they want to sell us the full platinum package and suggest you have to be in or out, but it's not really like that. You can pick and choose your membership levels according to your best interests. Other people do, and that is up to them.

We could move to EFTA membership (which is what Carswell and Hannan suggest) but I don't know whether we would need the Schengen agreement. Presumably not if we haven't bothered with it so far. It's pretty close to what Mark wants, it's achieveable, it's exactly what AC1 and Bill Quango MP specified.

Note that the Vatican is effectively in the dark blue area except for the agreement to mint its own Euros. However, the Vatican and several other microstates in effect cheat because they get the benefits as if they were members of just about everything but they are not bound by the relevant areas of law. That's like having a freebie gym membership, but I can't see that being extended to a major European state.

Furor Teutonicus said...

woman on a raft said...

However, the Vatican and several other microstates in effect cheat because they get the benefits as if they were members of just about everything but they are not bound by the relevant areas of law. That's like having a freebie gym membership, but I can't see that being extended to a major European state.


Rubbish. My Grandafather's Ship was Norwegian registered. NOT a member of the E.U.

But STILL restricted by E.U law.

Because if you do not abide by E.U law on net size, catch quotas, e.t.c, then you can not sell the fish in the E.U.

As the largest market was Germany, Britain and France, we HAD to abide by E.U law, even though not members.

Switzeland is the same with milk, chocolate and cuckoo clocks.

Even down to the "working time directive".

If you do not fulfill it, then you do not trade with the E.U.

And any firm, such as Norway with the fish, can not buy from a ship/farm/firm that does not comply if they wish to "sell it on" to an E.U member nation.

They have to produce "certificates of origin". And if those sources do not obey the E.U law TO THE LETTER, then they can not buy.

For this "privilege" Norway has to pay more in "favour money" than MOST countries pay in membership!!

Quite touching the shite you are told AND BELIEVE about the E.U on your tiny little Island off the French coast.

Bill Quango MP said...

UK isn't signed up to the working time directive though. Or, we have an opt out...
Are we trading illegally?

And the USA? not sure they have to follow european personnel laws to trade with EU. Just have to follow consumer and drug/medicine laws ..same as if EU trades with Usa.. DEA rules etc.

Furor Teutonicus said...

Bill Quango MP said...

UK isn't signed up to the working time directive though. Or, we have an opt out...
Are we trading illegally?


You are members, you can "opt out".

A choice non members do not have, whilst still having to obey and PAY!

bayard said...

I'm with AC1, but I'm a bit worried about what FT has to say. I'd be very unsurprised if the EU cut its nose off to spite its face by refusing to trade with us if we left. Politicians are petty. Of course they don't act this way with the US, the US is bigger than them.

Mark Wadsworth said...

B, what FT says about Norway may or may not be true, but if the US are bigger than the EU, then the UK is also bigger than Norway, so the same rules would not necessarily apply to us.

Furor Teutonicus said...

As of 2009, Norway has chosen to opt into EU projects and its total financial contribution linked to the EEA agreement consists of contributions related to the participation in these projects (Schengen Agreement, Europol, EU Drug Monitoring Centre, Frontex, the European Defence Agency and the Union's battlegroups) and part made available to development projects for reducing social and economic disparities in the EU (EEA and Norway Grants).[2][7] EEA EFTA states fund their participation in programmes and agencies by an amount corresponding to the relative size of their gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the GDP of the whole EEA. The EEA EFTA participation is hence on an equal footing with EU member states. The total EEA EFTA commitment amounts to 2,4% of the overall EU programme budget. In 2008 Norway’s contribution was €188 million. Throughout the programme period 2007—2013, the Norwegian contribution will increase substantially in parallel with the development of the EU programme budget, from €130 million in 2007 to €290 million in 2013. For the EEA and Norway Grants from 2004 to 2009, Norway provided almost €1.3 billion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway_–_European_Union_relations

http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/UD/Vedlegg/eu/Norway%20and%20the%20EU.pdf

(Page 21 re fishing rules).

XXXXXXX

- The implementation stage: Once new legislation is adopted by the EEA Joint Committee, the aim to ensure simultaneous application in the EU and EEA EFTA States, to ensure common rules at any given time. The EEA EFTA States have a good record for implementing new legislation within the set deadline, and Norway has for some time had among the lowest "transposition deficits" among EEA 28 (less than 1 percent).

http://www.eu-norway.org/ARKIV/newsarchives/EEA_agreement_facts/

XXXXXXXX


16 June 1981

The Community has three fisheries agreements with Norway, namely the bilateral, the trilateral and the neighbouring agreements. The bilateral arrangement covers the North Sea and the Atlantic, the trilateral agreement covers Skagerrak and Kattegat (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) and the neighbourhood arrangement covers the Swedish fishery in Norwegian waters of the North Sea

http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/international/agreements/norway/index_en.htm

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31980R2214:EN:NOT