I was wondering, when, if ever, Russia will join the EU. My expectation is that negotiations will be made public sometime with the next president in charge.
I think most people would agree that Russia would fit in quite easily, assuming that crime and corruption are under control. With Russia having the Euro it should take foreign exchange risk out of buying most of the energy.
Seems a possibility. The principles of the Council of Europe were watered down to allow Russia's entry, so it wouldn't be surprising if the next step were made easier for them too.
Having said that, expansion has lost momentum and the EU is developing types of "special relationship" for countries which it might once have welcomed as full members. It would be politically unacceptable to talk about Russia's entry while Turkey is still at the sticking point. And the memory of the friendly Russian liberators is much stronger in places like Berlin or Plsen than in this country, so there might be as much or more resistance to the idea than there is to Turkey's membership.
I'd be happier if the EU concentrated on financing nuclear power stations than on cosying up to the Russians. Even then, there's a time gap while the things are developed and built, and likely a lot of argument over whether to waive the rule against state subsidies. So there's a dilemma...
Like in the USA you mean where a very large percentage of the people live below the poverty line, have little access to medical care and where the crime rate is one of the highest in the developed world?
What the UK economy actually needs is cheap, competent, English speaking labour. What we have got from Eastern Europe over the past 3-4 years is very variable.
A misleading statistic and one which is regurgitated relentlessly by socialists such as yourself. The USA is the most developed country on earth. What defines "poverty" in the USA will correspond with a lifestyle unimaginable to most Africans. Who decides what is meant by "living below the poverty line"?
Compared to where?
Yes, their crime detection rate is the envy of the developed world. I wish we in Britain had the will to track-down and imprison criminals like the Americans.
That may or may or may not be true, depending on how you wangle the statistics, but I did find the USA a happier place to live than England. Mind you, I was down South; not in the ghettos of Detroit, etc. I didn't feel like I was being ruled with an iron fist, like I often do in England. The cops in the US, I found, were intelligent and human. All my experiences with the police in England have been unpleasant ones (except for one, that I can remember). The exact opposite was true in the USA.
I'm not convinced. It depresses GDP per capita, and they don't pay enough tax to pay their way. (e.g. education, health, housing, policing, pension and benefits.) The economy is boosted by improved productivity which comes from intelligent work, not just more people.
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