American reacts to How does the EU work?

[@turtleflip5631]

What I really like about your reactions, is that you google if you have a question. Shows that you're actually interested and invested in the topic instead of just trying to farm engagement by saying "put it in the comments" 😃

[@AdamMPick]

Sometimes 3 min after the question, so everyone has the time to type out the answer and post it, too. Which is genious for the algorithm, but probably just slight ADHD. ;)

[@enemde3025]

If he was truly interested he would read and react to his viewer's comments !!

[@zpitzer]

Yes, most reactors say that for the algorithm, I prefer those who google stuff up. They do better in the long run, they get comments too, so the algorithm works anyway.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

Like his fraternal twin brother do, you mean?

[@sunseeker9581]

​@@brigidsingleton1596 its weird you know theyre brothers. You must watch a lot

[@RomanVilgut]

Yes, the EU has a Court. And especially US-Tec-Corps hate it.

[@ane-louisestampe7939]

Yaeh. It's not easy to buy 14 judges from 14 different countries. They don't like the Commission of Competition either 😆

[@gerardflynn7382]

Yep, it forces US companies to obey the rule of Law.

[@verttikoo2052]

Not all of them. Apple 🍎 wants the USA to adopt the GDPR. Yes… Apple has hiccups with the EU, but they do negotiate things and smoothen up the wrinkles. 👍

[@joaomarreiros4906]

The British should have google it too before voting for brexit, but they googled it after voting...😂😂😂

[@leohickey4953]

Some of us did, my friend, some of us did👿.

[@thearmouredpenguin7148]

@@leohickey4953 Unfortunately 52% didn't.

[@ane-louisestampe7939]

You are SO right! I was choked to find out that the MOST googled in the UK the day after the referendum was Brexit and EU

[@RandomNon-interestingguy]

@@paullarne now you're experiencing the opposite and there are talks about rejoining, probably a lesson in there lmao

[@ane-louisestampe7939]

@@paullarne No you didn't. You spent 43 years bitching about EU - and you still do. Now we don't have to listen to it anymore 😆 as you can't obstruct anything. And still will have to bend to every single law EU makes when trading with the EU.

[@susischmid8599]

The European Coal and Steel Community (1951, "Montanunion") was actually the forerunner of the European Economic Community. One of the original aims of installing a European community was to have the same tax system in every country. They still haven't implemented that. That's why the big American companies like Amazon have their official European headquarters in Ireland where they pay hardly any taxes.

[@gaelle4328]

Actually not same taxes but on the right track same tariffs and peace project.

[@lahirefrancois7508]

Hello. I'm french and I've watch quite a few of your videos. I would like to say, that as much as I am proudly a french and a EU citizen, I've seen your videos about "why is the EU just better than the US". And I agree that I am very happy living in the EU, and I am proud of what we did with our neighbourgs, but I would like to say, that even with it's very apparent faults, we love the american people, and when we bitch about your system it's mainly because we think you deserve more (and in fact any human deseves some basics rights)

[@LordKosmos]

Love and Peace to you too from Germany! I hope we Europeans can manage to stay together and remember what we gain by cooperation instead of looking at the things that divide us. But of course, there is always room to improve.

[@Scrubik1]

@@LordKosmoseuropéen can stay together if they don’t let any extremism rule

[@verttikoo2052]

Exactly 🎉 Greetings from Finland 🇫🇮

[@NikiRose]

Agreed. Greetings from Hungary. :) (Our PM also appears in the video, as a divisive figure, but we are really trying to vote him out and repleace him with someone who respects our shared rules.)

[@evilan460]

4:14 In Switzerland, we do not have a president who leads. There are 7 people who make decisions together. Every year a president (one of the 7) is still appointed but does not have a role that is really different from the 7 advisors. As a result, the Swiss people often do not even know the name of the current president. It’s working just fine. You should watch a video on this topic if your interested Ryan😊

[@LordKosmos]

I really appreciate the swiss model. It does not elevate the individual politicians to make the topics about themselfs and it is a kind of cooperation for the people, that worked very good as far as I can deduct from afar (Germany). There is also a broader understanding in the populace what is decided and why. Much more involved also due to peoples direct votes on some of the laws or decisions formed.

[@Michael-yq2ut]

I LOVE that you give props to the original video and link it in your show notes, not all creators do that

[@MaleficaWitch]

Yes, I try to stay away from reactors who do NOT put the links to the originals in their description. So many dont do it :(

[@ticijevish]

The Eurozone counts 20 countries since Croatia adopted the Euro in 2020. Funnily enough, ALL EU member states take on the obligation to adopt the Euro as their national currency upon joining the EU. However, in order to adopt the Euro, each natikn has to meet strict economic conditions related to their monetary policy, inflation, budget deficit, etc. For some strange reason, Czechia, Sweden and the like have been consistently missing those goals ever since they joined the EU. Real funny stuff that. 😉

[@e1123581321345589144]

you'd be surprised how many people in Europe don't know about the European Commission or the Council

[@may51973]

Yes, there is a lot confusion about the institutions and the way they work.

[@michealrosen]

The US economy did well after WW2 because they joined late, they didnt do much untill japan started attacking in december 1941, the war had already been going for 2 years and 2 months, the USA engaged in 1942, they never used all there resources, they never had the mainland of the usa attacked, unlike europe which was a mess from years of direct conflict, or parts of asia .

[@thomasfranz6467]

Most importantly though, the war was never fought on US soil, so obviously their economy did well compared to all of Europe, which was completely bombed to the ground. Also they sold weapons for profit for the most time of both world wars.

[@rogerk6180]

The usa economy did so well after the war because of the marshall plan. Without it it would have gone straight back into depression.

[@KeesBoons]

@@rogerk6180 I think it's safe to say the US created it's own market by adopting the Marshall plan.

[@rogerk6180]

@@KeesBoons the usa had massive over production at the end of the war. It produced enough industrial goods to feed it's own economy, feed the uk economy, everything needed to fight the western front and a big chunk of the russian front and fight the war in the pacific. With the end of the war all that industrial demand instantly fell away. It's production capacity far exceeded what the american economy could consume by itself, so most of that capacity was on it's way to winding down and closed up. Putting loads of people back into unemployment. Meanwhile in europe most countries had to rebuild their economies and most of their infrastructure and industries. Without any money or resources to do so quickly. The marshal plan solved both these problems in one go, the american government send huge sacks of money to europe so that europe could buy all that excess industrial output the usa was producing. Allowing the american economy to keep going by exporting all that stuff and europe to rebuild with the resources it could not produce for itself.. It switched from building tanks and warships to ship to europe to shipping steel and industrial equipment to europe.

[@neuralwarp]

Germany did well too. Because the rest of Europe rebuilt them with brand new factories.

[@michaeljasterfotografie3985]

Ich lebe gerne in der europäischen Union 🇪🇺 Grüße aus Düsseldorf Germany

[@DanielAusMV-op9mi]

Same 🌟

[@sampierucorsusampierocorsu9530]

not me, a disaster for the French economy. Uncontrolled immigration and an unelected authoritarian leader. An ecological, economic and ideological dictatorship. Frexit

[@albinjohnsson2511]

The EU is incredibly complex. It is sui generis and a patchwork of compromise. Unfortunately, even many Europeans do not know very much about its workings. That said, it is also extremely interesting from a political, historical, and cultural perspective! For all its flaws, I love its overarching spirit and am intrigued by its many quirks and just the practice of having such a diverse and chaotic parliament.

[@matteocolpo7140]

9:45 it is, I think it has to be seen as a strength toh. Also, eu motto is “united in diversity”

[@DanielAusMV-op9mi]

For me the EU represents: Cooperation across countries Fairness and Justice Protection Democracy and the spirit of "we want everybody to live a good life, as best as possbile" Its hard to say in words exacly but the EU is very important. I feel there is a sense of love there. For example when in a country some food cant be produced cause of climate, the eu helps with money for tech to make it easier for the producers that secure food I like the eu and I'm 105% we can have an amazing future if we cooperate. If we can have robots that produce our stuff and we cooperate it will be soo cool

[@Justforvisit]

Well, the EU is quite an european achievement when you consider it like that: Europe as a continent has a damn bloody history, there was not a single century since the beginning of history that wasn't filled with war. And albeit the 20th century had two of the most terrible ones, after WWII the institution of the EU managed peace in the european region for already 79 years between its member states. Only 21 more to go till we have a full century without war between members in Europe, which is quite an achievement when you consider Europe's bloody history. And before anybody comments on that topic: Yes, I am aware of the war in the Ukraine, that's why I said between member states.

[@Sorcerer86pt]

The European union is the single most successful peace effort in the history of Europe ( maybe the world even). Better even that the whole ONU .

[@PDVism]

@@paullarne Congrats in proving that not only are you uneducated about the EU and why Brexit was a stupid thing for the UK but also that you love listening to Russian propaganda and believing it blindly. If Russia had a problem with EU countries sitting on it's borders then you should try to explain why it didn't have that issue with Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland? You really must love to show how smooth brained you are, don't you.

[@neuralwarp]

Strange that peace thing. I remember London being bombed by the Irish in 1995/6.

[@v.almeida7924]

@@paullarne ‘buffer zone between East and West’ - Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, East Germany, Georgia and Azerbaijan. NATO, remember? Ooohhh, Trump wants to leave NATO and join Putin. Well, the European Union MUST form its army. And NATO? C'est fini!

[@Sorcerer86pt]

@@neuralwarp terrorism is not full fledged war

[@neuralwarp]

Ryan, for "no president", look up the Swiss _"Magic Formula"._

[@pierre-francoishenrion8433]

Hello. I like your comment " win / win". This the key question and I am convinced that this is why we avoided war but also managed to achieve some progresses.

[@thescrewfly]

All his friends called him Harry. You've never heard him called that because Kissinger had no friends (ba-boom-tshing!).

[@TheDoctorIWho]

The EU is not so confusing as it seems. Especially for Americans. The same problems, different states had to work together and wanted influence when the USA was created led to similar solutions for the EU. The EU today is merely a confedaration by name. Having a closer look shows, it works like the USA but nobody wants to admit it because a united EU-state is very unpopular in many countries. EU-Parliament equals House of representatives: Every state, using its own voting laws, elects its MEPs. The number depends on population in the Country. Works exactly like in the US European Council equals the senate in the US. Each state sends one member instead of two like in the US. The member is not elected directly for this position but ist the elected head of state. Means it is as if the US govenors would be their state senators at the same time. The European comission equals the US government executice. Its head (president of the EU commission, you can think of her as US president with fewer powers) is, differently to the USA, not elected directly by EU citizens (but it was tried to do so for years. Jean Claude Juncker was the first one to come near it) but by the Parliament and the European Council. Every EU state makes one or two proposals for a commissioner (these are the secrataries in the US or the attorny general), the president choses one from each state or refuses both. Then the memberstate has to make a new proposal. When all candidates for commissioner are appointed the parliament votes about the whole body. When it is approved all become commisioners (secretaries) for 5 years, if not: back to the drawing board. European Court of Justice: you guessed right - like the supreme court but no lifetime appointements (we learned from the US) ;)

[@qobide]

Nobody wants to "admit" it, because it's simply not true. Are there similarities? Of course. But But is there something like the Schengen area? How about currencies? Is there an EU-citizenship? It's quite fun to compare a country and a supra national organization. But Neither the USA or the EU are in any kind special. You can do probably most kind of SNO and country and will find three things that are similar. Also your take on the presidency is quite strange, because the us president is not voted directly by the people. electoral college vs popular vote. Also the us president can pick anybody he wants to be a member of his cabinet resp. to be a secretary pending confirmation. None of the us states have any kind of way to make proposals. Thats a stark difference. While both sets of candidates must be confirmed, the us president can choose almost anyone he wants, while the commission president is stuck with the proposal of the states.

[@MLWitteman]

Before the first 6 founding countries, there were already 3 countries that came together. Those were the Benelux countries: Belgium, the Netherlands & Luxembourg. On the 5th of September 1944, these 3 nations came together to form this economic union. This would later form an example for the earlier forms of the EU. The Benelux: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benelux

[@raatroc]

In fact the first European Community was not the EEC (The European Economic Community) but the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) founded by the treaty of Paris in 1951. In 1958 followed the EEC and Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community) founded by the treaty of Rome, each with its own goal as the names imply. Each had its own "Commission" (executive body) and councel (legislative body) sometimes called "High Authority". In 1967 by the treaty of Brussels these three "Commissions" were fused into one Commission, from then on called "Commission of the European Communities"). Finally in 1992 all previous treaties were revoked and replaced by the treaty of Maastricht wereby all three European Communities were fused into the European Union with as executive body "The European Commmission".

[@dragoskrlec357]

Totally agree with you Ryan,..."Do countries really need a Presisent? (or the Government, for that matter?)"... Belgium "managed to survive" without having a Government for 652 days (December 2018 to October 2020). Mind you, "managed to survive" is a true understatement, Belgium is very prosperous and desireable to live in country.

[@dooley-ch]

Yes but they have a King and he performs the role similar to presidents in most European countries. And no you can't do without them because they are usually the last line of defense for the people against the government and parliament as they are the defenders of the constitution.

[@schelfie1986]

Belgium survives because the regional governments has as much power as the federal ones, and they had governments. So even though the country in his whole wasn't governed, the regions individually were, bringing stability and trust in the economy.

[@ane-louisestampe7939]

I think it's worth mentioning that this "mess" of parliament, council and commissions is created so to make EU practically impossible to corrupt.

[@DavidWren-u3k]

what about those Irish MEPs who received "pocket money" from Putin ?

[@dtibvgz8441]

We humans always try to beat the impossible! So they are doing their best.

[@diablo.the.cheater]

@@dtibvgz8441 So far it has worked

[@szabados1980]

7:03 The Chancellor of Germany isn't a head of state. Germany's got a president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is the head of state of Germany. Mrs Merkel was the head of government at the time. The Americans' brains will short circuit on this but that's how it is.

[@Bramfly]

Like in the Netherlands we live in a Constitutional Monarchy with a King as head of state. the King is not an absolute King but has a more ceremonial role. We have a bicameral parliamentary democracy with a prime minister as head of government.

[@annedunne4526]

The effects of the EU are not just to avoid wars. It also makes trade between the countries easier, as well as travel, studies, sharing information, especially scientific research etc. The UK has been discovering the negatives of not being in the EU since they voted to leave in 2016.

[@edipires15]

@@paullarne unfortunately for the British, the negatives of Brexit outweigh the positives by a long-shot

[@PDVism]

@@paullarne Go on then, name one thing that is a net positive that the UK couldn't do while being part of the EU and that makes enough of an impact that it undo's all the negatives that came with leaving. Just one. I dare you.

[@diablo.the.cheater]

@@paullarne There are no possitives, not really. Only negatives.

[@gabriellanagy5416]

The European Parliament meets 12x a year in Strasbourg! The rest of the time they are in Brussels. They operate continuously (apart from summer break). The Commissioners are proposed by the governments, but the European Parliament has to approve them, and yes, quite often there's a kind of (hidden) influence on the Commissioners from their government, although they are supposed to be independent. Since the video was made, a new EU institution was set up: the European Public Prosecutor's Office, seated in Luxembourg.

[@martijnkeisers5900]

I ❤ peace! I ❤ the E.U!

[@daxmarsman5189]

Love your videos . I am proud to be a European . But remember, we always shall have a historical bound. Yess we are different, but i see it like 2 brothers. We joke but love each other.

[@SilverSmrfr]

Damn Ryan you recognized the age of the map by the amount of member states. Even a lot of people in the EU wouldn't be able to do that.

[@dooley-ch]

In the US every state has common law, which is very different to the EU where we have both common law and civil law, this makes the drafting of laws far more difficult. Likewise we have different forms of government from sovereign peoples and parliaments to monarchs. So yes it is far more complex.

[@Merione]

The US does have something similar to the EU Court of Auditors. It's called the US Government Accountability Office

[@thomash3716]

We do not jus has a lot of different opinions in EU - we have a lot of different conditions... climate for instance... There is a huge difference in the conditions a Swede or Finn from the north and a Greek or Portugese has to spend for heating, winter tyres for the car and so on... so some rules are difficult to find agreement about. And a huge cultural discrepance as well. The northern parts are very different from the mediterrainian - a lot bigger difference than in the US.

[@Molikai]

We are currently in the longest period of peace in Europe in recorded history. This system does actually work!

[@DanDownunda8888]

There are many, many things we'd like to know by now, but in which direction do we go? 😊

[@hansnystrompastor8690]

2:30 its even more funny when you discover that your good times were cause you were rebuilding europe and that lead to one of your biggest economy depresion in history

[@hansnystrompastor8690]

4:20 it goes bad brother, and even worse its the fact that we actually have presidents, in each country, there always a loyal steward

[@frieda2413]

re: preventing wars. That and sport competitions, mainly football.

[@strubbleler]

dont worry Ryan, the average european doesnt know about this either! i loved learning like this, as a Dutchie :)

[@RalfT-DE]

I disagree, I assumed until I read your comment seconds ago that everybody knows this. You learn this already very, very early in school. So everybody should know this. Greetings from Germany.

[@strubbleler]

@@RalfT-DE well German schooling isn't the same as Dutch Schooling. We may have gotten the very basics but none of this!

[@RalfT-DE]

@@strubbleler Ok, that is a fair comment. I agree with you. I feel more like an European than a German even so I am already far above 50 years old and even so my roots are all German/Austrian. It is difficult if someone says he is German or belongs to any other european citizenship since our borders changed so much in european history. For example, my mothers family basically lived in the same area I am still living at since roughly 500 years (at least as far as we know). But this area changed between Bavaria to Austria and back to Bavaria. Whereas my fathers family moved within austrian borders which then changed to Bavaria in a later stage. But due to that I have an italian sounding lastname, since the area my fathers family lived at changed during the dolomite war as part of WW1 to Italy even so it has been Austria for more then 500 years. And finally both of my parents where born in Nazi Germany as fully accepted Germans even by the Nazis. If one thinks about history like this the only conclusion can be that we are anyhow all simple Europeans instead of Germans or any other nationalities in Europe. And finally taken the big picture into account we are all just humans without any nationalities (languages yes but nationalities no), since we all have the same genetic roots independing from color of the skin or the language. The national thinking is just helping the rich and powerful people to be even more rich and powerful while the not as rich people have to pay or even to die for it. Think about. This is as well valid for the (US-)Americans and all other nationalities you can think of.

[@MrsStrawhatberry]

I‘m Swiss and even we learned that in school.

[@MrsStrawhatberry]

⁠@@RalfT-DEYou can still say that you are Germanic and not Spanish, ethnicity is a thing too. Borders don’t always respect ethnicity but very often they do and form unions of culture and ethnicity. There are differences and that’s a good thing. Europe is not just one soup.

[@ki5739]

I don't remember who said it, but it is 100% true - the war starts when the trade stops. Usually, the winners in a war are the ones supplying the fighting sides, not the fighters.

[@KaiHenningsen]

That's a rather abbreviated description, not much more than throwing around a few terms. As for the history, here's Wikipedia's slightly more complete version: The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to integrate Europe's coal and steel industries into a single common market based on the principle of supranationalism which would be governed by the creation of a High Authority which would be made up of appointed representatives from the member states who would not represent their national interest, but would take and make decisions in the general interests of the Community as a whole.[2] It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany and was generally seen as the first step in the process of European integration following the end of the Second World War in Europe. The organization's subsequent enlargement of both members and duties ultimately led to the creation of the European Union. _The ECSC was first proposed via the Schuman Declaration by French foreign minister Robert Schuman on 9 May 1950 (commemorated in the EU as Europe Day), the day after the fifth anniversary of the end of World War II, to prevent another war between France and Germany. He declared "the solidarity in production" from pooling "coal and steel production" would make war between the two "not only unthinkable but materially impossible".[3] The Treaty created a common market among member states that stipulated free movement of goods (without customs duties or taxes) and prohibited states from introducing unfair competitive or discriminatory practices.[4]_ _Its terms were enforced by four institutions: a High Authority composed of independent appointees, a Common Assembly composed of national parliamentarians, a Special Council composed of national ministers, and a Court of Justice. These would ultimately form the blueprint for today's European Commission, European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the Court of Justice of the European Union, respectively._ _The ECSC set an example for the pan-European organizations created by the Treaty of Rome in 1957: the European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community, with whom it shared its membership and some institutions. The 1967 Merger (Brussels) Treaty merged the ECSC's institutions into the European Economic Community, but the former retained its own independent legal personality until the Treaty of Paris expired in 2002, leaving its activities fully absorbed by the European Community under the frameworks of the Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice._

[@blushadow1726]

Leaving the EU was the worst case of self harm the UK has ever done to itself, prey the day we re-join.

[@Swedishpolymath]

Good that Americans are finally starting to learn about Europe and its history and place in the geopolitical landscape.

[@Salfordian]

The EU is not Europe

[@kasperkjrsgaard1447]

@@Salfordian But most of it.

[@TullaRask]

@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 About half probably, depending on how you count Europe

[@99mm66]

@@Salfordian If you learn about the EU, you learn about Europe. You wouldn't argue that if someone learns about California, they aren't learning about the US.

[@DenUitvreter]

@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 Hardly.

[@TheUncannyF]

I've read somewhere, that it's easier to understand powersharing between EU bodies in this way: - EU Parliament: represents interests of citizens (elected by citizens) - Council of the EU: represents interests of governments (comprised of prime ministers + sometimes extra ministers from member states) - EU Commission: represents interests of the whole EU as an institution (members must be approved by parliament, but are chosen by "President of the EU Commision", who is elected by EU parliament) It somewhat maps to the conventional 3-way powersharing (commission as executive), but at the same time has Council, which doesn't really fit exactly. Also, these 3 must work via compromise to get anything done.

[@neuralwarp]

6:33 No the EP can't initiate or reject a law. The EC can bypass it using the _Special Legislative Process._

[@jakubpuchalski2583]

Yeah we have several international courts. For example there is a specific tribunal that deals with human rights. Any citizen can sue their country if their right were violated

[@hastrom]

That was a very very light overview of the EU institutions. I would recommend a video more focused on how it really works, who does what and how a EU directive becomes national law. The channel EU made simple has some good videos like "What is the European Union?" and "How does the EU pass LAWS?".

[@nosmallfeat311]

Henry, You call the person authorized to represent the EU in foreign matters: the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

[@CROM-on1bz]

It was at the initiative of a French politician Robert Schuman that the "Steel and Coal Community" was created, the ancestor of the EU in the 50s. It was time for this kind of initiative to be taken, war has ravaged Europe for millennia and it is currently the only period of stability since the fall of the Western Roman Empire (and we are not even talking about the countries of Central or Eastern Europe). So yes the system is complicated and imperfect but at least generations of young men have not died in stupid wars between neighbors who often have more in common than differences.

[@thomasfranz6467]

I'm all for the EU, but to say it's the only period of stability since Rome is just bullshit!

[@eurorpeen]

There was Benelux well before the steel and coal community, let me guess : you are french aren't you ?

[@CROM-on1bz]

Benelux: le traité d'union ne date que de 2008 @@eurorpeen Siège Bruxelles Traité constituant 5 septembre 1944 Traité Union Benelux 17 juin 2008 Et oui je suis français, pourquoi? Cela vous pose t'il un problème?

[@eurorpeen]

@@CROM-on1bz et oui puisque vous n admettez pas les faits ! Le Benelux date de 1944 donc bien avant le reste

[@CROM-on1bz]

@@eurorpeen Ai je dis le contraire? je vous ai même mis l'extrait Wikipédia. Mais le Benelux c'est trois pays mineurs de l'Europe, à eux trois ils n'ont même pas le quart de la population de la France ni le quart de sa surface. Alors bon ce sont des pays que je respecte, mais ils restent mineurs.

[@DJone4one]

Well, the ECB (European Central Bank) is somewhat the same as the American FED, just for several countries with the same currency. They set the key interest rate for loans and the like.

[@galaxyguideneunundneunzig2417]

Some of the Caribbean Islands are French and due to that they are also part of the EU and Euro-Zone. Other non EU states are also part of the Euro-Zone, there are: Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Saint Barthélemy.

[@Andrewsch9077]

In my opinion, the introduction of the euro to Poland It is connected with the economic crisis... That is why we must hold the currency tight

[@MlokKarel]

1:04 nope... Most Europeans don't have any idea either... 😂

[@someguyanonymous5171]

4:18 - no Countries do not need a president. Take Switzerland as an example. We have 8 "Bundesräte" - which are like Chancellors but each with different departments under them like Finance or Education or Defense. All of them have to agree for important decisions such as deploying military forces or major law change suggestions (the final decision is made by the people during votes). Their departments can change over time ( even though some that are really good at one thing might be in charge of one department for ten years) and there is a temporary "Bundespresident" which just acts more like the tie breaker or leader of sessions and who will be the one who mostly attends the international events but that one almost always switches between them each voting cycle. No one would call him the president and he isnt really any more important than the rest. And we are quite successfull and prosperous. One person alone shouldnt have all the power. We also have a law that any private person can suggest a law change if they can collect over 100'000 signatures and then the collective bundesrat will give their opinion on the suggested change and the country votes to adapt or decline. This often still achieves a partial success even if the people voted ultimately against it as the government usually sees the peoples interest and does something to go into that direction at least. You should really make some videos about our little nation sometimes. ;)

[@rotmistrzjanm8776]

10:10 not exacly "stop war". I mean too but it was Steal and Coal community for a reason. It was to establish more integrated industrial base that could be easily converted for military production in case of communist invasion of Western Europe. So it both strenghten Europe's defence potential and hampered potential to wage war against eachother since fighting countries would have to ad hock rebuild broken industrial chain to maintain war effort.

[@dooley-ch]

The peoples of Europe have the battle fields of two world wars in their back garden and that is powerful motivation to find a way forward together. The EU is a complex balancing act between the interests of the states, the regions and the peoples, which is why consensus decisions are favoured over voting.

[@Lw1337]

I mean i didnt use it that often so far but do you have an idea how nice it is to travel across different countries without the need of a passport? I dont even have one because i dont need it here. I need to get one if i want to visit some countries outside the EU. Thats so amazing. Last Year i went to a festival to the Netherlands (i live in Germany) and we didn't have to think about anything else than the festival. No Currency exchange, no passport, no visa, nothing. Just your ID-Card. Really much much love to the EU for that ❤ Also safety regulations, standardization etc. there are many things about the EU which are great for us citizens. We just tend to forget about it sometimes :(

[@marieparker3822]

M Jean Monnet and M Robert Schuman, when forming the European Coal and Steel Community in the late 1940s had as their founding motto and mission statement, 'Ever closer Union'. You can have a certain amount of cooperation and agreed alignment of economic policies with some - say five or six - countries at similar economic development. However, if you expand the Club horizontally, you cannot deepen the Union vertically - ie politically - without eschewing democracy in proportion, and this is what the EU has done. The EU hates and loathes democracy with a vengeance.

[@cranberrybe]

i happen to believe it's the national leaders that bloc the democracy because they fear their own power would diminish. why is there no european president? allways because of national leaders' egos.

[@watermelon7998]

Yes, the original idea was to make sure that there is peace in Europe, and that has worked: no two member states have ever attacked or got close to attacking another one. There had never been peace in Europe for that long in history. But also after WW2, there were two superpowers standing: the US and the Soviet Union. Europe was in ruins, devastated and starving. If Europe had wanted in any way to compete with the two superpowers, they had to work together. Brexit has strengthened the EU and the support of the union has grown in every member state while watching the UK go through the political chaos and economic decline after leaving.

[@leonvelten3480]

Hi Ryan, if your PC is slow check the task manager and then CPU if it says that the operating time at the bottom is higher than a few days your PC desperately wants you to restart it (not shutdown) hope this helps

[@neuralwarp]

You're assuming he's running Windows.

[@thescrewfly]

Looks more like macOS, you can see it as soon as he bring up the video.

[@leonvelten3480]

@@thescrewfly at 0:12 you can see the icons of the windows store and edge browser in the very bottom

[@DanielAusMV-op9mi]

This is very fascinating, I love cooperation between humans and therefore I also love the EU Doesn't have to be the EU particularly but economic teamwork across the world is a big W

[@watermelon7998]

You asked who chooses the commissioners: there' s one for each member state, they are nominated by their own head of government (prime minister). Then the EU Parliament look at them, publicly "grill" them, then vote them in or not. My country has had 2 commissioners-to-be voted against , so it does regularly happen. The Commission is the civil service of the EU, by the way, they make the laws that the Council (the EU governments) request, then the Council / Parliament votes for or vetoes those laws. In other words, the Commission does not make decisions. That was one of the most popular lies spread in the UK: that "unelected bureaucrats make our laws". They write the laws and but any member state's elected government can veto those laws.

[@spinshade]

Your PC from 2008 had less bloatware on it.

[@gaelle4328]

Think the best thing about EU - court is that the judges in our individual countries in EU are NOT political appointees, in fact the judges in the individual countries are non- political in fact the European covention itself states that a judge needs to be impartial.

[@looony]

that groovy german national anthem before 1:55

[@LuukvdHoogen]

That is the EU anthem. But indeed before it's adoption as such it was known as Beethoven's 'Alle menschen werden brüder' (All peoples became brothers).

[@HolgerJakobs]

The video about the EU seems to be a bit outdated. Many politicians shown have left office a couple of years ago.

[@ryttyr14]

To be fair I don't even think the majority of the people living in EU countries knows all of this.

[@Belaziraf]

They don't. They don't understand the EU court is on the same level as the International Court, but for EU issues only.

[@ShabanAjeti]

​@@Belazirafthe EU court is not at the same Level as the International court.

[@Belaziraf]

@@ShabanAjeti I think you misunderstand my meaning or missed the end of my sentence. To make it more understandable, EU court focus on EU issues, above or between nations. That's the level I'm talking about. Though it may look at individual case, in some exceptional situations, it's not its role.

[@Lancor84]

Your computer will be much more powerful than the one from 2008, but you might have a software problem. Too many programs running, the wrong programs drivers, wrong browser addons etc. or you even may have malware. If you can't be bothered to learn how to setup these things correctly your own, you should consult an IT service. Will set you back 100-200 bucks, but they will clean it up.

[@annedunne4526]

You asked who appointed the commissioners for the European commission and the answer is we, the people of each of the countries, do.

[@neuralwarp]

No they don't. Each commission is nominated by the previous commission.

[@eurorpeen]

​@neuralwarp nope it s false. Each government from each member state nominated its own commissioner. They proposed to reduce the number but countries like Ireland vetoed it cause they didn't want to lost "their" commissioner

[@thedutchhuman]

Install a cleaning program on your computer, delete cookies, clean the registry, etc. Then your computer will respond faster.

[@uroskostic8570]

There are also countries in Europe, that are candidates for EU, and have to follow EU laws, and align its own laws with EU laws. There is a case of Georgia, that was candidate, which pulled out from EU and is no longer a candidate. Serbia, is a candidate, that had to apply and align laws and legal things with EU, so it can move forward in accessing EU. Turkey is candidate for 50+ years.

[@pierre-francoishenrion8433]

Hello. I am pro EU but before having it extended, let's make it work properly, and there is a lot to do.

[@AdamMPick]

The official candidates are (since when): Albania (2022), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2024), Georgia (2023), Moldova (2022), Montenegro (2012), North Macedonia (2022), Serbia (2012), Turkey (1999) and Ukraine (2022). Turkey is the longest running mate, but far from 50 years. It's half that, even though it feels like it was going on before the EU even existed. The official status gives you access to money from the EU and allows for stuff like visa free travel for both sides. Countries like Georgia cry bloody murder, but keep taking the EU money.

[@uroskostic8570]

@@AdamMPick Didnt Georgia give up?

[@flitsertheo]

@@AdamMPick As long as Erdogan rules Turkey that country doesn't stand a chance to become an EU country.

[@ticijevish]

Doesn't the US have the Government Accountability Office (GAO)? The equivalent of the EU's Court of Auditors.

[@thomasfranz6467]

It should be noted that there are also countries in the Eurozone, that are not a part of the EU.

[@testman9541]

And even a couple of them using the Euro without any agreements with the EU 🎉

[@tihomirrasperic]

The main comparison USA = Federal State (50 members) advantages * everyone speaks the same language * one currency * one army cons: the country is deeply divided between democrats and republicans, the differences are so great that a civil war is possible in the near future (probably if Trump becomes president) ----- EU = European confederation (27 members) advantages * protected strongest market * freedom of movement * leader in standards flaws * confederation, for every decision a unanimous consent is needed this means that some decisions require a lot of diplomacy, trade and persuasion, even threats * four groups of languages ​​(Germanic, Romance, Nordic and Slavic groups) * there is no EU army * Frontex (EU police) does not have the same powers as the FBI in the USA

[@stannumowl]

You mentioned 3 groups of languages Nordic languages are North Germanic. Also there're smaller language groups like Baltic languages, Greek or Uralic, etc.

[@eurorpeen]

There is a EU army

[@jiriwichern]

To ensure a democratic system that works for a diverse bunch of countries, like the EU is, this might seem complicated and people are quick to judge, the EU is a bureaucratic disaster (especially by some politicians that say they'd promote quick and simple solutions to everything). But in my view, this system is a necessity. Some people may bitch about things, like for example, that only a few or sometimes even one member state(s) can block a proposal the other countries with a majority of the EU citizens so clearly want... but remember that deciding everything by 'just 50%' (like what happened with Brexit in a single referendum) isn't democracy. It's the tyranny of the majority. Democratic decisions should always be taken with respect to the minorities, whether that is by having thorough and thoughtful conversations with all groups involved before reaching your simple majority decision, working to reach a compromise, or deciding some decisions are too important to leave just to chance (and instead go for a 2/3rds, or 50%-new-elections-50%). Actions that upend hapless peoples lives should always be taken with thought, not haphazardly or through populist puppet play. The fact the EU has those three wildly different institutions that are together responsible for the legislative and executive branches (one directly chosen by the people, one with representatives of the (chosen, and thus party colored) governments of all EU countries and one with politically independent executives from each EU country) are safeguards that the decisions taken are solidly in the interests of the EU citizens and not taken on a whim or bought by a boat load of money.

[@MiguelPerez-ij1ry]

I like the video, but every video you watch about EU is not actualize. For the next time could you look for a more recent video? Thankss

[@fricatus]

“Decentralised… like bitcoin” 😂

[@desperadox7565]

Nobody knows how the EU works.😎

[@testman9541]

1:25 Famous quote that used to be true, but actually if it is an EU internal topic or a prestige topic you would call the president of the EU commission (aka Ursula Van Der Layen) and if it is a foreign policy or security issue you would call the vice president that is also High Representative for the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 👌 And this exists since.... 1997 🎉🎉🎉 So quoting an way outdated rant from a bloke of the previous century that turn out to be deprecated factualy 🤣

[@verttikoo2052]

Basic is that USA now have to take serious lessons from the EU. Things like Pootins Diaper Don can’t happen again. Lots of work 😥 But it will get better 🎉 Vote BLUE ALL THE WAY

[@MrApocalyptica83]

dont forget in the usa you speak the same language in europe its not the case

[@szabados1980]

1:39 The old moke allegedly said this to mock the Europeans that they didn't have a single foreign minister. Which Europe still doesn't have. Because the European Union isn't a country but, the clue is in the name, a union of sovereign countries.

[@eurorpeen]

EU does have citizens and laws and constitution and a foreign minister

[@szabados1980]

@@eurorpeen Check again. Nobody's passport reads, "Nationality: European". The document many call the constitution is an international treaty, it doesn't constitute any new country. There's no foreign minister of the European Union.

[@eurorpeen]

@@szabados1980 just educate yourself, EU citizenship is a thing for a while

[@LordRogerPovey]

Britain only finish repaying the lend lease to the US in 2006!

[@fabios.3510]

It’s funny these videos about Europe are still in the same channel as the UK. It would be more logical to post them in the Germany channel.

[@oskarprotzer3000]

9:48 Tony G :D

[@mfvieira89]

Not related AT ALL but I think a compliment can't hurt: you're really beautiful

[@johnheaton1729]

Hi I John from England the trains in France do like 200mph TGV😮

[@lukeknoxxmusic]

4:03 This aged well 😂 You probably are better of without one.

[@dorisschneider-coutandin9965]

Today, Henry Kissinger would know whom to call when he wanted to speak to "Europe". It would be Ursula von der Leyen.

[@nfzed]

@@paullarne huh how is she unelected? Did I miss something? She has the confidence of the European Parliament. How does that makes her unelected?

[@nfzed]

@@paullarne gladly the other candidates during the election had been Nicolas Schmit for the Social Democrats, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann for the Liberals,Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout for the Greens as well as Walter Baier for the Left. Those were the european candidates for the Top Job. As only Ursula von der Leyen was able to command a majority in Parliament she was the one nominated by the European Heads of government for this post. Same principle applies to many countries where the Head of State nominates the person who is able to command a majority in parliament for the post of Head of Government. By your logic you would have to claim that the german chancellor had been unelected.

[@v.almeida7924]

@@paullarne humm, let's see: Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss Rishi Sunak - ALL ELECTED in elections, right? Yeeaaah

[@dannil9878]

Peace as a focal point is so important. Just take a gander at Russia and Ukraine (not EU nor NATO members).

[@riddick7082]

The only really big threat to a continued functioning EU community and a functioning internal market is Viktor Orban.

[@yorkaturr]

Ah yes, the EU. A mystery to most EU citizens too.

[@h.stephenpaul7810]

You comment that it might be difficult for the representatives from the 27 various countries to put the interests of the EU first. So I ask - in the government of the USA in Washington, who looks after the interests of the whole country when all the politicians are elected from 50 states ?

[@Pidalin]

4:05 - In most of european countries, president is just a symbolic figure and doesn't really have any real power, something like queen/king of the UK. Here in Czechia, president technically can name prime minister who will form a government, but in reality, he has to do what constitution says and when he doesn't, there are other ways how to overvote him by senate, parliament and constitutional court.

[@ita9ful]

😂 that might be a bridge too far for Americans 😂

[@LeonardoUgoliniSANDSCULPTOR]

👍

[@mariethomas7760]

Countries who are in EU but dont have €, are a complettly f.. up every time. Its not a problem only with €, it means no internet. Coz the companies dont includ this Countries in the contracts. Like Schweiz. Its a holy mess. If u drive there for 4h (crossing the country for Italy), it means 4h no inet, calls aso. without hight costs. Roaming is the worst. I rly rly h@te to be there. Amazing country with extrem beautiful landscape, but i struggle there.

[@hjvdd]

One day a European Federation

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Sadly the court of auditors witheld their approval from the EU budget for the (fill in many) consecutive years. That is not because the EU is a terrible financial mess, but the bar is set extremely high (98% of all expenditures must be legally sound). No European county has such strict standards.

[@neuralwarp]

And no other member state "loses" 20% of its revenue.

[@eddi5190]

all members of the EU had the privilege to be in a single market without special taxes free moving arround without passports ..after brexit GB is out of the market but the EU is the largest trading partner of GB,so brexit was so supid^^

[@iirokarimo4565]

9:30 Im sorry if i have to tell you this but its not because you have 2 political partys with % worth of mentioning but instead its opposite. Making decitions with tens or hundreds of partys might be hard but it dont tear the country or union of countrys in a civil war like situation once a while... And then the gun"laws" huh.. Luv ya vids man

[@ebbhead20]

Some would say that there's a civil war going on inside a few countries right now. The UK certainly feels like a warzone to me sometimes. They even told people of colour not to go there 6 weeks ago. But to say that Ukraine is not at war right now is messed up. 😊. You need to look into Europe a bit more, and understand it better because Europe is a warzone in a shitload of places pal.

[@PDVism]

We are talking about the EU. Care to show where in the EU there is war? Bit by bit even the countries that once were known collectively as Yugoslavia are becoming part of the EU, making it so that in future they might also no longer turn on each other.

[@ebbhead20]

@@PDVism he said europe wouldnt start a war anytime soon... Prick up your ears pal... Is Ukraine not at war.? And a lot of people find England having a civil war right now... I mean ira not, but i said some might feel that. Samw with France. Paris is always fighting the cops and tuning over cars and setting everything on fire. So they also feel like a civil war to me.... Its again not meant as a definite sure thing like oh... Attack with tanks and so on... But ot does feel like that when watching the news... And we get a lot of it here om Scandinavia. I have a few French news channels too... So i feel my statement is valid.