All Questions
997 questions
114
votes
13
answers
27k
views
What are the main reasons for why negotiating a proper Brexit deal has been so hard?
When the UK voted for Brexit, then it was generally expected that the pro-Brexit politicians had some idea of how negotiations for a Brexit deal would fare and what the outcome would be.
Now years ...
- 1,137
86
votes
11
answers
25k
views
If "more guns less crime", how do gun advocates explain that the EU has less crime than the US?
As a naive European, I thought that the self-defense argument for guns in the US was mostly based on the high number of guns already in the country. In other words, I thought that the argument takes ...
- 18.1k
71
votes
4
answers
22k
views
Could the UK re-join EU after leaving?
Let's assume that
Article 50 is invoked and UK officially leaves EU
For some reason, both UK populace (a large share) and enough powers that be or popular will in EU, decide that UK ought to re-join ...
- 93.3k
69
votes
6
answers
16k
views
Why is privacy a subject felt more in Europe rather than the US?
Almost regularly there is news on this or that US (internet) company that must adapt its practices for European customers, since they tend to be too lax with regards to privacy protection according to ...
- 6,745
63
votes
8
answers
14k
views
Can the UK realistically back out of Brexit?
Note: this is not a question about whether Brexit is a good or bad thing. Keep answers impartial please.
It is quite obvious that the current British government negotiating Brexit terms has a very ...
- 2,896
60
votes
2
answers
16k
views
Would the USA be eligible to join the European Union?
This question is motivated by the interesting answers given in a similar question on Russia. Let's imagine the USA leaders would want to join the European Union, would they be eligible?
There are two ...
- 671
59
votes
5
answers
13k
views
What options would have been left, if the UK government couldn't have decided on how exactly to implement the referendum to leave the EU?
To my understanding, the lawful government of the United Kingdom has decided, following due process, that:
The United Kingdom shall leave the European Union at a set date (currently 29 Mar 2019)
The ...
- 2,896
56
votes
10
answers
7k
views
Why and since when did Russia stop integrating itself into the Western community?
After the downfall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation was on its way to integrating itself into the Western community politically, economically and socially (by Western World I mean the so-...
- 761
55
votes
8
answers
19k
views
Why is it impossible to leave the Single Market without a hard Irish border?
I see a repeated assumption that puzzles me. From another well asked and answered question:
On one hand it is impossible for the UK to leave the Single Market while maintaining an open border with ...
- 652
55
votes
6
answers
12k
views
Is there an EU law that prevents repair of electrical devices?
I know there's a lot of discussion at the moment of the EU introducing new "right to repair" regulations to try to reduce waste.
I was recently told that this is effectively a reversal of existing ...
- 699
52
votes
10
answers
18k
views
Why does the EU care so much about the UK divorce payment?
Most current estimates of the UK exit bill show that the sum is somewhere around 50 billion Euros. This is equivalent to 0.3% of the EU's yearly GDP, so it's pretty much a negligible sum for the EU ...
- 51.2k
51
votes
7
answers
12k
views
What are the reasons for the rise in Euroscepticism over the last few years?
Eurosceptic political parties in Europe have been on the rise over the last few years. What are the reasons for this? What are the main arguments made by Eurosceptics against the EU?
user14856
51
votes
10
answers
16k
views
Why was the Brexit referendum conducted as a simple majority vote?
For votes which can have extremely long-term consequences, (like changing the constitution) a simple majority vote is usually not enough. Such voting and referendums are not about electing a temporary ...
- 2,693
51
votes
1
answer
12k
views
Will English be dropped as an official/working language of the EU after Brexit?
English is currently one of the 24 official languages of the European Union (EU), and one of the three “working” languages alongside French and German.
Will the United Kingdom leaving the EU (Brexit) ...
- 596
50
votes
9
answers
15k
views
What would the United Kingdom's "optimal" Brexit deal look like?
As far as I could tell, the Brexit issue boils down to three core points for the UK:
The UK no longer has to follow any EU regulations.
The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland ...
50
votes
6
answers
17k
views
Why do Muslim refugees seek asylum in Europe and not in rich countries in the Middle East?
There are several rich "Muslim" states in Middle East: Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and so on. It seems that none of them want to receive Syrian, Iraqi, North African and other Muslim refugees.
...
- 927
49
votes
8
answers
18k
views
Why does the EU not seem to pursue technological independence?
Why does the European Union not seem to pursue technological independence? While I am just a naïve citizen without deep insight, it seems to me that many technologies that seem critical to both our ...
- 533
49
votes
3
answers
14k
views
What would Ukraine gain by joining the European Union rapidly?
President Zelensky of Ukraine urged the European Union today to grant his country immediate accession to the EU bloc.
Would joining the EU bloc rapidly allow the European Union members to help more ...
- 595
49
votes
4
answers
13k
views
Why is May in charge of Brexit negotiations? What happened to the prominent Brexiteers?
I don't follow UK politics much, but I did get interested during the Brexit referendum two years ago. Back then, the main names I recall are David Cameron, Boris Johnson, and Nigel Farage, and maybe ...
- 681
48
votes
9
answers
10k
views
Why do EU sanctions against Russia stop short of a total trade ban?
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine now officially around the corner (or even underway), I am surprised how minimalistic and non-committal the proposed sanctions are. Even the US "mother of all ...
- 587
45
votes
7
answers
10k
views
Why is the UK still pressing on with Brexit?
Before Monday I have always taken an impartial stance when ingesting information produced by clearly pro-Leave and pro-Remain groups, to analyze the information and take time to cross-reference it ...
- 759
43
votes
8
answers
9k
views
Why did the EU agree to delay the Brexit deadline?
Pretty much the title.
My attempts to search Google only brings in swathes or news items about extension, but no explanation of why it might be so, at least none that I can find.
Attempt to make UK ...
- 1,549
42
votes
6
answers
8k
views
Why is the UK blaming the EU and what does the UK want?
I believe I know the Brexit issue pretty well. However, I haven't been closely following it since Boris became PM (but still followed it somewhat). What I don't understand is this:
[...] what we can'...
- 4,279
42
votes
6
answers
11k
views
Why are the Brexit trade talks held up by the divorce talks?
In order to provide certainty for businesses and bureacrats, to a layman it appears practical for Britain to carry out trade talks with the European Union in parallel with the divorce talks.
Yet the ...
- 552
42
votes
7
answers
10k
views
Why is participating in the European Parliamentary elections used as a threat?
As the Brexit deadline approaches, I've seen reporting recently over the British government using participation in the European Parliament elections as a threat to convince MPs to not force the ...
- 1,662
41
votes
6
answers
9k
views
Must the UK leave the EU?
The BBC has projected that a majority voted for the UK to leave the EU.
To what extent is the referendum binding?
- 4,541
40
votes
8
answers
10k
views
Why would Putin or Russia benefit from a weak EU or weak EU countries?
Various (western) commentators and politicians state that "the only one happy with/benefiting from [insert bad scenario here] is Putin/Russia" (I'm not sure which one(s) of the two they mean). ...
- 49.3k
40
votes
4
answers
6k
views
How did the European Union reach the figure of 3% as a maximum allowed deficit?
According to Wikipedia's article about Stability and Growth Pact:
The fiscal discipline is ensured by the SGP by requiring each Member
State, to implement a fiscal policy aiming for the country ...
- 53.5k
39
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Why does Boris Johnson seek to renegotiate the Brexit deal with the EU?
The UK wants to renegotiate the Brexit deal with the EU, mostly because of Northern Ireland's current (and future) situation. The EU immediately rejected the offer.
My question is: Why does Boris ...
- 1,091
39
votes
6
answers
17k
views
Why doesn't Russia join the European Union?
Why doesn't Russia join the EU?
If they become one of them, then they would not be enemies anymore, right?
They have already joined the G-20. Then, they could also join EU, right?
user4514
39
votes
3
answers
12k
views
What is Russia getting in exchange for their gas and oil now that they've been cut off from the Western financial system?
As far as I can tell both of these things are currently true:
Russia has been cut off from a large chunk of the Western financial system
The EU is still buying Russian gas and oil
But how does this ...
- 51.2k
39
votes
7
answers
16k
views
What are the key factors for the rise of nationalism in Europe?
In the past decade there has been a constant rise of nationalism in European politics, with nationalist parties gaining popularity in almost every member of the European Union. The canonical example ...
- 9,662
37
votes
9
answers
12k
views
Why is the EU concerned about the UK "unilaterally withdrawing" from a proposed Irish backstop?
As I understand, one of the sticking points in the Brexit negotiations has been Britain's level of obligation to a proposed customs union backstop.
I understand also that this is essentially a ...
37
votes
9
answers
6k
views
What are the benefits for strong economies like Germany and France for being members of the European Union?
Recently I was reading things on the European debt crisis. It seems to me that when there is a financial crisis, strong economies in EU, like Germany and France, are supposed to help the countries in ...
- 5,074
37
votes
5
answers
21k
views
How are GDPR fines actually enforced for US companies with no physical presence in the EU?
GDPR is a hot topic since it will start being enforced from 25 May 2018.
One of the most important characteristics of this regulation is that it also applies to companies outside the EU:
A major ...
- 53.5k
36
votes
7
answers
9k
views
Why is Russia limiting its gas supply to the EU instead of stopping it altogether?
Recently, Russia has markedly reduced gas sold to European nations in their gas pipelines. This seems very strange to me. In my opinion, the only two logical amounts of gas to sell would be "as ...
- 803
36
votes
8
answers
14k
views
Why doesn't the EU now just force the UK to choose between referendum and no-deal?
Since May has proven unable to get a deal through, there are now two alternatives left: no-deal, or an article 50 extension (which would then lead to further deals being put on the table, or possibly ...
- 409
36
votes
9
answers
23k
views
Why does the EU keep Turkey out?
Turkey has applied for membership in the EU several times, but unlike Greece, it has never been admitted. What are the reasons that the EU has given for denying membership to this large and ...
- 16.3k
35
votes
10
answers
11k
views
Why does the US need to spy on its allies?
Recently, I've read about the NSA (the US National Security Agency) spying on European leaders - Angela Merkel in particular.
But this is highly unusual for me. I can understand the US spying on its ...
- 11.8k
34
votes
5
answers
9k
views
Are there oligarchs in Western countries?
Why do I see the term 'oligarch' almost exclusively applied to Eastern European countries? Are there oligarchs in the European Union, the United States? As I understand it, an oligarch is a wealthy ...
- 4,279
34
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Could European union member countries bypass the EU and make their own individual trade deal with the U.S.?
Could European union member countries bypass the EU and make their own individual trade deal with the U.S.?
For instance Italy decided to join the Belt and Road before other countries meaning that it ...
user28660
33
votes
2
answers
11k
views
Why are the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark among the countries with the largest wealth gaps in the world?
Wealth Inequality By Country 2021
Here are the 10 countries with the highest wealth inequality:
Netherlands (0.902)
Russia (0.879)
Sweden (0.867)
United States(0.852)
Brazil (0.849)
Thailand (0.846)
...
- 19k
33
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Has the UK enacted any changes in laws that would've been impossible while being an EU member?
The UK has left the EU and one of the biggest arguments in support was that idea that they could enact legislation that goes against EU rules, whether on trade with other nations, privacy, security, ...
- 51.2k
33
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Why does Poland receive more in gross and (far more in) net EU funding than any other member state?
Poland receives more gross and significantly more net EU funding than any other member state, including significantly more than other Eastern members (e.g. Romania or Bulgaria). The stark disparity ...
user15034
32
votes
5
answers
11k
views
If the eurozone budget deficit limit is 3%, why is the European Commission telling Italy it must revise its 2.4% deficit budget?
The BBC reports that the European Commission has told Italy to revise its budget, saying that the draft presents particularly serious non-compliance with Eurozone rules. Yet the maximum permitted ...
- 49.3k
32
votes
3
answers
7k
views
What issue does the EU take with the UK's Chequers proposal?
It's said that the UK's Chequers proposal is "dead in the water". Different questions here have dealt with UK politicians supporting or opposing the proposal, but I'm interested in the EU's ...
JJJ♦
- 39.7k
32
votes
2
answers
6k
views
What does European Union "freedom of movement" mean, and how much can individual countries restrict intra-EU immigration?
In recent years, France has embarked on a controversial program of expelling Roma people. The controversy is partly about the allegation that France expels people based on ethnic rather than legal ...
- 49.3k
32
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Can a state be forced to leave the European Union?
Lets assume that some EU member states think that a certain other member state should no longer be a member of the EU. In contrary to this question, that state has no intention to withdraw from the EU ...
- 78.9k
31
votes
11
answers
24k
views
If the UK government did not follow through with Brexit what would happen?
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum (23rd June 2016) resulted in a vote in favour of the UK leaving the European Union.
To give effect to the referendum result, i.e. to leave the ...
- 2,858
31
votes
4
answers
4k
views
What is the strongest case that can be made in favour of the UK regaining some control over fishing policy after Brexit?
I am a little baffled by the prominence of fishing in the debates over the UK's decision to leave the EU. The fact that the UK may regain control over fishing policy has had high visibility. However, ...
- 517