What has the EU ever done for you?

[jasjas1973]

With all this doom and gloom, i thought i'd start something a little positive...
For me its travel and food.

I can travel around europe as easily as i can the UK, we've EHIC, one currency, i ve worked in Sweden and found love! picked fruit in france, worked in a bicycle shop in Mallorca.
I remember what a PIA it was pre EU, open skies flights, no tunnel, loads of different currencies and border checks, green cards, travel insurance and before anyone says it - i'm not middle class by any means, i left school at 16 and my mum was on benefits.

Then there is food, in the 70s Spagbol was considered adventurous cooking, now look at what we can find in our shops plus a load of euro cooking programs.

Oh and then there is trade, my friend can export to 17 EU countries from Plymouth as easily as he can to Luton or Hull & trade disputes are easily settled.

We've also had a load of worker rights regulations, not least the Working time directive, which gives many a max 48 hr week, many employers inc mine would happily see their work do far more.

AIBU ?

Being able to visit, live and work in any of the other countries without needing to go through lengthy visa requirements.
Knowing I could relocate with DC and DH and that DC would be eligible to join school system.in any of those countries
EHIC cards.
Easy customs clearance
Being part of a greater group of nations that are neighbours.

@scaryteacher

Its circular argument over which has kept the peace - NATO or the EU, i'd argue that nuclear weapons have had a far greater effect.

Either way, there is no parallel universe, so we'll never know.

But cultural exchange, scientific collaboration, trade and travel all help to promote greater understanding and this can only help in preventing war.

Allowed me to retire to a warm climate which has transformed my arthritis and asthma.

EU grants, that have supported the renovation of wonderful old buildings and exciting projects. I'm in Wales, and the above has boosted tourism, and helped prop up our local economy immensely!

4 yrs working on EU-funded projects. Lovely places to go visit & meet colleagues (!)

EHIC cards, simple currency to deal with when abroad (many countries take Euro). Efficient supply chains keeping prices of manufactured goods down. Easy entry/departure/goods movement between EU countries (keeping prices down & making it easy to travel between). Peace. Safe drinking water. Clean beaches. Pressure to clean up air pollution.

GFA. I remember when every trip to London was fraught with pondering Hmmm, I wonder if IRA will be planting bombs this time?

Getting to live in a country that has (had) influence on world stage well above its actual GDP.

There are a lot of intangible benefits that are bundled up in the EU membership, like EU arrest warrants, common consumer safety standards I get to experience when travelling in EU and environmental regulations.

Along with the myriad of benefits listed before I have personally enjoyed being part of the Erasmus scheme and working in an amazing European country. My cousin also took part in this and stayed in the country he was placed in. I also enjoyed interrailing with full freedom of movement and no border issues.

jasjas We had cultural exchange, scientific collaboration, trade and travel before the EU ever existed. Dh's grandmother was a German who travelled to the UK after WW1, and then followed his grandfather to India, where he was posted by the British Army where they married. They returned to England before WW2, and settled there.

My great aunt married the Free French soldier she met during the war, and they spent most of their married life in Le Havre.

We had the Huguenots fleeing to England; some of our Doctors trained in Leiden in the 17th century...there have been all those things happening centuries before the EU was even thought of.

Yes, I agree that MAD kept the balance during the Cold War, but other states now have them that just don't care about MAD. The EU won't stop China if they wish to wage war, or Iran, or Israel or N Korea. It hasn't stopped it in Syria either. In reality, the EU is a toothless paper tiger.

One thing it has done is funded the Tamar Valley Food Hub. looking forward to moving back in 8 weeks and using it again.

Along with other benefits mentioned...
Provided funding and a platform to share research for major genetic studies, such as the one that led to a diagnosis of my ds's rare genetic syndrome.

I got a brilliant grade in my EU law module barring that nothing comes to mind. Not a citizen of an EU country, not involved in any industry/business that is propped up by the EU, I suppose that realistically, there isn’t really much that the EU actually does that wouldn’t happen anyway (to a greater or lesser) unless you find yourself involved with one of the areas they have legislated on, one of the industries they have interfered with, have a niche interest (politician, academic/specialist in that area etc.) or, a national of a MS. Maybe if I had started my career ten years ago I would have ended being specialised in that area. If I had naturalised before brexit then I would have been able to take advantage of the immigration benefits (although to be frank I’m not sure that would be much use to me).

The EU funded massive regeneration and re-wilding of ex-mining land into country parks in the area where I live. They are well-used and appreciated by locals and visitors and wildlife continues to increase in number and diversity.

Industrial decline thanks to the Tories was extremely challenging for my area and it is still one of the most deprived in the country. But ultimately coal was environmentally unsustainable and the industry would have declined naturally anyway. The government needs to work out how to regenerate our communities and encourage good quality decently paid jobs for all. The signs are there won't be the money after Brexit to do any of that.

Re the military point the EU and it’s precursors have a remarkable history of flopping on this point. Look it up if you have the time, it’s one of the most interesting areas of European politics during the last century and isa good illustration of the whole European alliances scene on a single topic basis.

Thanks to the EU and FOM I could come study in the UK without going through a bureaucratic nightmare. I could then stay on with no questions asked and build a career. Now I have a job that takes me to various places in Europe regularly and I appreciate the ease with which I can travel.

EU funded graduate scheme, EU funded jobs including the opportunity to work on a project with international credibility

@scaryteacher

Of all the brexit supporting posters on here, you are most negative :( not just the EU but everything.

Jeez anyone would thing i was suggesting that before 1955, no one ever left these shores, get real !

It is the scale of these opportunities that cannot be doubted (well, they will be by you)

Your a genuine doubting thomas aren't you?

The EU won't stop China if they wish to wage war, or Iran, or Israel or N Korea. It hasn't stopped it in Syria either. In reality, the EU is a toothless paper tiger

Neither has NATO, UN and thats their job, its not the EU's.

Strangely enough all the places you mention are not in the EU, perhaps if they belonged to a similar organisation, they'd all be at peace too?

The opportunity to meet non bigoted people, to travel without prejudice and the understanding that some leavers voted leave to 'stop the p*s coming here'.

Oh, and: (If I thought the letter of this book would last, I might have used proper names; but if the spirit of it survives - survives Prussia - my ambition and those names will have achieved fresher fields than Flanders...)"

Not identifying foreign criminals isn't related to 'poor border infrastructure' or a lack of policing- I used to work for UKBA so have some insight into the subject.

We don't have access to all foreign national criminal records, and deportations are often blocked by our courts applying ECHR legislation. The police aren't able to read minds - they catch them when they get done for driving without insurance normally.

jasjas It depends what you read into my posts really doesn't it? I would say I am realistic, and that the EU was set up to kill off the nation state (in which I believe passionately), and that the EU and its various organs have become unwieldy, bloated, self aggrandising and now a vehicle for failed politicians to get on the gravy train (von der Leyen is the Chris Grayling of German politics).

I am positive about moving home to Cornwall in 8 weeks; about being able to use the Food Hub again; about access to Howells and the Cheese Shop in Tavistock...that isn't negative.

I'm positive about a myriad of things, but not the EU. I am unremittingly cynical about that.

From your posts you seem to think the EU is a bit like 42, the answer to life, the universe and everything. It isn't, and it creates problems that it will have a really hard time solving, if it doesn't kick the can down the road again.

The scale of the opportunities you talk about aren't only available by being an EU member state though. We trade, travel, have scientific collaboration and cultural exchanges with all those other countries outside the EU. Why stick to just 27, when there are far more out there? Why have an EU scale of opportunity when you can have a global one?

Barroso said in 2012 that the EU had the dimensions of Empire. It is trying to position itself as a nascent superpower (which it won't achieve as it has no military clout and no nukes, and it isn't a Five Eyes member either), but without success. It will either have to fully federalise, or break up, and both options pose threats to the UK. Better off out.

The EU was involved in brokering the Iran nuclear deal iirc, so it is trying to punch above its weight..it would like a seat on the UN security council...it attends the G7 meetings...as an entity it evidently thinks that it is the job of the EU to be able to intervene geopolitically, hence the creation of the EEAS and the moves towards a directly controlled EU military. It is getting enmeshed in Libya as well.

It is arguably the job of the UN to stop major conflicts, but like the League of Nations, I think the UN has become discredited and is seen as a talking shop. I note that China, Iran and Israel are all members of the UN...an organisation that the EU might claim similarities with. Hasn't made much difference has it?

Hasn't made much difference has it

Personally, I prefer to live in a world where we work together, listen to each other, stand together against evil and corruption and co-operate with other countries - especially those who are very similar to and who have been our neighbours and trading partners for ages.

It makes for a more pleasant world.

I live in an economically disadvantaged region of the UK
ERDF funding and another funding stream funded lots of development around here - I think the train station, e learning across the region, buildings, training, lots of it free, supporting small businesses / SMEs. But I only know because I had an admin job related to it 15 years ago and notice the plaques as I go about. Even people who have benefitted directly are unlikely to notice it was from the EU.

In the 1980’s The Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool was regenerated. I’ve always enjoyed visiting there ever since.

My best friend, an EU national who has studied and now works here. First thing I did when I heard the result was contact her and comfort her. She's devastated.

It is however a bit disingenuous to use historic migration and that people can and do migrate to other countries to dismiss the benefit of being able to freely relocate within the EU27. I have worked in multiple countries and been through different work and permanent residency processes. There is a significant difference between what was required as an eu member to relocate within the EU and what is required outside of that. And it will make it harder for young / unqualified / inexperienced to move and work and experience other countries. Note I say harder... not impossible, but harder. You might think that's an acceptable loss but you can surely recognize it is a loss.

Being in EU right now does not mean you cannot travel to the rest of the world, does it? It's not like being in Soviet Union where you can move within the borders only.
Freedom of movement is an amazing thing. I can just go and work and live in France, no problems. Tiny bit more difficult if I want to do the same in the US or Singapore.

I can just go and work and live in France, no problems. Tiny bit more difficult if I want to do the same in the US or Singapore.

As Carrie Symonds has just discovered ....

@G5000 thanks! You said that much more clearly than me :)