Comments by "Karsten Schuhmann" (@karstenschuhmann8334) on "EU Debates | eudebates.tv" channel.

  1. Sure they did. The EU changed the Lisbon treaty and the new version was approved by Ireland.
    7
  2. You left, solidarity is for members not for third countries. What did you expect?
    3
  3. Do you have any reason for your assumptions.
    3
  4. Well, where is your point, Frost was not elected either.
    3
  5.  @adiadindas  Well, fishery agreements predate the EU by several decades. It is a way to optimize the use of resources. Before this agreement, Continental fishers were fishing the juvenile fish in the shallow waters before it could grow up and migrated to the British waters to mate. Regarding the trade deficit of the UK: Are you sure this will not further increase in the case of no deal. And sure, any trade deal contains some level playing field. The currently negotiated Japan deal for example contains stricter stade aid rules than the EU has asked for. The behaviour of the UK makes it difficult to negotiate any trade deal, the fact that the UK fullfills EU rules at the moment is irrelevant because you want to change your rules, but you are unable to specify the future regulation. Any mutual recognition has to be based on the the future situation. As long as this is unclear, there is no way any negotiation can be sucessful. The deal with Canada excludes finances and certain critical products, therefore mutual recognition is simple. But it took several years to negotiate. The UK has neither the time nor the willingness to persue a canada style deal.
    2
  6.  @whoaminot-gy8hq  Nobody in the EU is begging for a deal, but we will always be there if the UK wants to negotiate, that is good customer service.
    2
  7.  @whoaminot-gy8hq  It will mean much more than tariffs. The non tariff barriers are often much more difficult to handle. When I am ordering a specific part in Switzerland from a German company for let's say 5€, the non tarife barriers by far outway the tariffs. The delivery will become 25€ more expensive and it will take an additional month. Only 6% of German exports are going to the UK, but 45% of British exports go to the EU and an additional 40% is fostered by EU trade deals.
    2
  8.  @whoaminot-gy8hq  Any country of the EU is exporting more to the rest of the EU than to the UK. Abolishing tariffs does not mean abolishing custom procedures. Any package will be stored at the custom office until it can be processed. The cost for storing and checking will be added to the delivery fee.
    2
  9.  @whoaminot-gy8hq  The EU is significantly stronger than the UK, in any respects.
    2
  10.  @paulwood6729  The WA, the "oven-ready deal" was front and center of the elections. "As I've shown, borders down the Irish Sea breaches the GFA until the people of NI have voted for it." Well, Brexit breaches the (edit out WA) GFA (edit in). There will be a change in respect to the UK or the ROI or both. The Irish protocol minimizes these breaches. NI will stay a part of the UK, but it will be part of a different customs arrangement.
    2
  11.  @alanedwards6491  1. Large quantities of trading have already moved. 2. Why should a bank move and disrupt its operation if there still is either a deal or an 18-month contingency. That is still more than sufficient time to move for a bank.
    2
  12. Well, ripping up the WA and with it, the GFA will lead to no deal with the EU, no deal with the USA, and it will spoil the peace at the border in Ireland. It would be the fastest way to Irish unification.
    2
  13.  @ceased2care  Well, the WA is binding. It is an international treaty. It was signed by Boris and ratified by the present Brexitere parliament. The Torys even won a general Election with this oven-ready-deal. Boris should not have signed it if he had issues with it. The British population should not have voted for it if there were issues. It is the PD that is non-binding.
    2
  14. ​ @ceased2care  The UK is no longer a member of the EU. The EU no longer has any reason to be nice to you. Still, the negotiations have been fair. But let me be clear, there will be no Apeasement for any British aggression against Ireland and therefore the EU. Pacta sunt servanda!
    2
  15.  @ceased2care  Well, Brexiteres expected they could bully Ireland into submission, but Ireland is a member of the EU the UK is not. A violation of the GFA is an attack on Ireland and therefore an attack on the EU.
    2
  16. Have you even begun to understand what it means?
    2
  17. Well, the deal with Japan has stricter state aid rules than the proposal of Barnier.
    2
  18. @Firm Buttocks Nothing is perfect, but Merkel has improved over her time as Bundeskanzler.
    2
  19. @Firm Buttocks Well, we never went down as far as the UK in 2010. There was less to regain. Furthermore, we had gotten rid of the deficid and most of the debt in 2019. This allowed us to cope much better with COVID 19. Presently, we have half the recession of the UK.
    2
  20. @Firm Buttocks Your cherrypicking shows! German industrial output went down in 2019 due to the trade wars, but the German economy did not. In contrast, the British economy contained the no-deal Brexit preparations. Sure, this is economic activity, but it is not productive. But discussing 2020 makes it really striking: British economy went down more than 20%, while the German economy lost about 9%.
    2
  21.  @shelleyphilcox4743  I think it would genuinely help if the other countries would produce more goods worth buying. You cannot force the population to order stuff they do not need. The state aid in Germany is (in bulk) not paied by the EU budget but by Germany on its own. Germany got rid of its deficit in good times and can now invest to mitigate the CORONA crisis. Furthermore, Germany is the most important contributor to the mitigation measures for the whole EU.
    2
  22.  @shelleyphilcox4743  I never claimed that the other countries would produce nothing of value, to the contrary, I am ordering components form several European countries. But I find it quite arrogant of you to claim that German companies would receive state aid acting as dumping to push stuff to other European countries. - The companies successfully exporting to other European nations do not receive state aid and have to pay higher taxes than in the UK (in order to be able to afford the higher state aid). - State aid is needed to build up new industry (that may become successful one day) or to support companies that experience short term issues and are unable to export at the moment. The rules for state-aid are the same within the EU. Well, at the moment in a reaction to COVID 19 these rules have been temporarily relaxed, once again they have been relaxed for all countries. We all would applaud giving state aid to struggling companies in the north of England, similar to the EU funds, this may pay off in 20 years. Germany was investing in the Black Forest for 30 years before it became one of the most dynamic economic areas. You may be able to do the same with Dartmoor.
    2
  23. Well, it is much worse for the UK of course.
    2
  24.  @terrybrookes9763  Well, they have prepared at Dublin Port. But even more, a sealed lorry does not need to be checked at the borders of the UK.
    2
  25.  @terrybrookes9763  Well, that's a decision of the UK, sure you can check these lorries, even so there is no reason under WTO rules. In contrast, imports to the UK (excluding NI) need to be checked, and imports to the EU (inclooding NI) need to be checked. If you want to play games with unnecessary checks the EU can allway counter with the timing of needed checks.
    2
  26.  @terrybrookes9763  Well, there are tons of precedents: An example would be the German-German border during the cold war. West and Eastern Germany were hostile countries, and it was extremely difficult and bureaucratic to enter the GDR. West German lorries and private cars could cross the GDR to Berlin and back with strongly reduced checks of the passengers and no checks of sealed lorries. If you left the motorway representing the direct path you were in deep shit but in obeying the rules of the GDR you could avoid most of the checks. Why do you think the UK will start a fight with a much stronger opponent?
    2
  27.  @terrybrookes9763  So, you have no argument? And you are still laughing? Seems very silly!
    2
  28.  @Gary_OC  I would guess so.
    2
  29.  @ezzmuch2391  Are there any British products apart from cheese and fish that do not require components from the rest of the world?
    1
  30. Talking about the UK?
    1
  31.  @floro7687  Sure, the UK is not.
    1
  32. And a weakness of the Pound.
    1
  33. What is your issue? The level playing field does not contain any minimum wage, but other minimum standards.
    1
  34.  @stevieframe  Isn't the Government of the UK far more elitist than any other in Europe, including the European parliament?
    1
  35.  @stevieframe  Well, the EU parliament is democratically elected by the citizens of the EU.
    1
  36.  @edwardoleyba3075  Well, the level playing field is a crucial component for full and direct access to the common market. It is basically the rule of law that allows each country and each individuum to trust the products (physical or financial) traded within this market. If you do not commit to these standards, we will need border checks to enforce the rule of law.
    1
  37.  @edwardoleyba3075  I am well aware, that UK standards are the basis of some of these EU standards, pushed by the UK to become EU standards (as this gave advantages for the British industry). Germany and France have done the same. But all this is irrelevant, these are the rules to have full and direct access to the common market, anything else would spoil the market. And this would cost much more than the we could ever hope to benefit from a trade deal with the UK. It would be a net negative. No country in the EU will decide to suffer just to pamper the UK.
    1
  38.  @edwardoleyba3075  The UK needs to make the EU an offer all member countries can agree to.
    1
  39.  @edwardoleyba3075  I am not part of the negotiations, just like you, I am limited to press releases. Generally, it depends on the access to the common market you need. Nothing ever described by Brexiters was on the level of Canada. The Canada++++ often referred to contains freedom of services and, therefore, requires the level-playing-field, in order to provide for the rule of law.
    1
  40.  @edwardoleyba3075  All members of the EU are sovereign! So your claim makes little sense. All countries on earth have signed treaties in which they committed to cerain actions or non actions, still, you would call most of them them sovereign. Well, if there is no deal, Barnier will have an even stronger hand in 2021.
    1
  41.  @edwardoleyba3075  Well, we are sovereign, and the UK used to be sovereign, otherwise, there would be no Brexit. But sure, there is Covid 19, and the trade deals with MERCOSUR, Australia, and New Zealand.
    1
  42. The WA explicitly mentions the ECJ as arbitrator. Johnson signed it and your parliament of Brexiters has ratified it.
    1
  43.    WTF?
    1
  44.  @adiadindas  Well, John Mansell seems to have asked for solidarity, but you may not have. The EU offered you the deal as described in the PD, but you did not want it. The PD contained a full chapter regarding the level playing field and it was signed by Johnson. The counteroffer of the UK came late and was violating several red lines of the EU. Now both sides are negotiating, just as promised.
    1
  45.  @blurryface_1589  I have no idea what you want to say, please collect your thoughts before you write. In addition, proof-reading your own text would not be detrimental.
    1
  46. @I'm a little tired of this Well, I have been to the UK and there are certain areas that look much more like Africa, Arabia, or India than any place in Germany. This has nothing to do with the EU and everything with your national politics. The same is true fo governmental spending. The Torys are waisting huge sums of money without benefiting the population. The EU spending rules are at least mostly beneficial. And developing poorer countries benefits all of us. Edit: Well it seems @I'm a little tired of this deleted his post.
    1
  47. The EU removes red tape by harmonizing the standards of its 27 members, and by removing border issues. This allows many companies to trade and expand into several other countries in the EU in the first place.
    1
  48.  @conor1077  What are you talking about, the UK was not even mentioned.
    1
  49.  @conor1077  He has not mentioned the UK either.
    1
  50.  @annoyingbstard9407  So please tell me, would you really suggest the same minimum wages in Lichtenstein and Romania to be introduced right now? I mean, this can be the long term goal, but surely it is not prracticable right now.
    1