What Actually is the European Union? - TLDR Explains

[@TLDRnewsEU]

QUICK CORRECTION: The Euro was actually introduced between 1999 and 2002

[@haleffect9011]

Just a question, wouldn't the EU actually be a Confederation? A type of pan-national institution which its constituents can leave and which derives its power and authority from its constituents rather than supreme authority (as opposed to a Federation?)

[@adamtrunecka596]

Another one: "European Free Trade Alliance" without "Trade"

[@adamtrunecka596]

A third one: Bulgaria and Croatia ARE NOT in the final stage of joining the euro. They haven't even been accepted to the final stage - the ERM II.

[@VictorECaplon]

A few errors here and there, but none of the EU is not a democracy BS is there so that’s a really good start. Also, the EU has an anthem !

[@phylismaddox4880]

Motenegro? Fedaralist? Come on guys - turn on the native spellcheck!

[@rikstan15]

I'd love to see a video on all the candidates of the EU and their chaces to join.

[@Languslangus]

☝

[@kirjoittajajoni]

@A Id I mean Turkey is kinda out of the negotiations as far as Mr. Erdoğan is in charge. Turkey was close of joinig, but they're very far from it atm

[@TzvetozarCherkezov]

All will eventually join the EU (if they still want to, because it's going to be a long time) except Turkey. Turkey is just too big and powerful to join. If it joins the EU it immediately gets roughly the same MEPs as Germany and more than the UK, Italy and France. There's no way they'll let it in. And that's not even bringing up the Cyprus dispute, Erdogan's human rights record, the lack of rule of law, the corruption, the slow islamization, etc., etc. All of which area dealbreakers. If, for example, Istanbul decided to secede from Turkey, along with the rest of the European part, they'll probably eventually let such a state in the EU (this is completely hypothetically, mind you, I'm not advocating). But the whole of Turkey? No way.

[@TzvetozarCherkezov]

@@kirjoittajajoni Turkey has never been close to joining.

[@Kosimus]

I don't think Turkey's size or even its current undemocratic drift are the main blocking issues. To me, the one absolute blocker is that Turkey is effectively occupying a part of the EU territory with its army. This one thing makes is impossible for Turkey to ever join.

[@jokuvaan5175]

In the future I'd like to see videos on things that cause a lot of misconceptions about EU. Like what kind of regulations and to what extend the EU can force on their member states. How much saying does a member have on these and what happens if a member doesn't follow them. Then just actual news on what is being discussed in EU to show something else than fake news of some curved cucumber legistlations.

[@freakygoblin3068]

Misconceptions about the EU.. well you could look at the history of lies from Boris Johnson when a reporter until he was sacked for making things up rather than actual reporting.

[@tm23822]

The EU can't actually force any country to do anything as it doesn't have an army. An example of this is when the EU commission, parliament, and courts attempted to force Hungary to open it's borders to migrants and it just flat out refused. There was a lot of threats and and denouncements and shock, but at the end of the day the EU couldn't do a single thing about it despite what Hungary was doing being 'illegal.' The EU is very elegant, as well as most modern states in Europe. Sometimes the soft power is soft enough to make people forget that power can be traced all the way back down to "you do thing or me bash head in with rock." Even the most civilized government in Europe only exists of the basis of any violent challenge to its power will get head bashed in with rock, and through that power it derrived the ability to enforce its democratic mandate. The EU has no such power as it has no men with guns which obey it. I think it's pretty obvious on where I stand on the issue so I won't try to pretend I'm neutral, but consider the facts above very carefully if a "common EU armed force" which certain MEPs advocate for ever gets traction. You may then find article 50 suddenly becomes "obsolete" once that's been made a reality.

[@freakygoblin3068]

​@@tm23822 You show a basic misunderstanding of the term "EU army". If you think the EU is powerless without an "army" then you misunderstand why people join the EU in the first place.

[@tm23822]

@@freakygoblin3068 and yet you've said nothing to convince me I'm wrong. I think you're the one with the misunderstanding.

[@freakygoblin3068]

@@tm23822 I've learned facts don't change people's minds unless they research them themselves. They have to be open to it to begin with. Things like EU Military Cooperation and National Defense by the German Marshall Fund of the United States for example. Perhaps the government report in 2014 which showed that UK access to the single market gave the UK a return of investment of a minimum of 800%. That's for every pound we spent on membership, the UK benefitted/received a minimum of 8. So for, using Boris' figure of 350million a week written on a bus, access to the EU single market alone makes the UK 2,450million per week. That in itself is a pretty hefty club without needing any "army".

[@snowcold5932]

At 1:04 you coloured Lithuania as you said Latvia, and vice versa. A good way to remember is that from north to south, the three baltics are in alphabetical order (E, La, Li)

[@Aoskar95]

I always just remember with estonia being wannabe nordics and poland-lithuania

[@marcnassif2822]

@@Aoskar95 I remember Latvia through Riga and its weird shape (the bay thing)

[@RoberttheWise]

Not a big deal. As long as he doesn't color them as a part of Russia or said something about them being Slavic he won't get shanked.

[@JustAGuyWhoLikesStuff.]

Just remember Lithuania is the south most one because Poland-Lithuania.

[@hannahg8439]

I'm interested in literally *anything* concerning the EU, so just continue making videos about it.💪🏻

[@oslowcloud]

Agreed

[@alphamikeomega5728]

Ciceroni is a good channel with a few videos explaining how the EU's institutions (especially legislative) work.

[@samib3589]

Why is that

[@hannahg8439]

@@alphamikeomega5728 thanks, I'll check it out

[@firch7123]

You said that the president of the commission is nominated by the council (and it's true),,, but you forgot to add "and then elected by the parliament". And it's very important cause that means MEP (who are elected by the european citizens) have the final word.

[@xthor86]

Yes over the one candidate in existence. Its like the USSR. They also had a parlament that voted. For the one option they got.

[@firch7123]

@@xthor86 The USSR only had ONE political party... The president of the commission is NOMINATED (through a QUALIFIED MAJORITY) by PRESIDENTS and PRIME MINISTERS (who are all DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED and are from SEVERAL different political parties), and he/she can be ELECTED or REJECTED by MEP (who are also all DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED and come from SEVERAL different political parties). So your comparison with the USSR is totally STUPID, and just show you don't know so much about the EU and DEMOCRACY.

[@MDP1702]

@@xthor86 like Firch said, when they are rejected the council needs to appoint a new possible person. Thus it isn't like they get to choose just this one. How exactly are cabinet members in the US appointed? Oh that's right, appointed by the president and then confirmed (or rejected) by the senate.

[@xthor86]

@@MDP1702 and Who is the president put in power by? Also you are aware there under 40% participation for EU election right? Also there has always only been one candidate. And it has never been rejected.

[@MDP1702]

@@xthor86 Which president exactly, the EU has 4 or 5 and they are basically just the heads/spokepersons of the different EU institutions. Nothing really like actual presidents. And actually just 2-3 months ago 3 appointments were rejected for conflict of interests and other issues.

[@lvoldum]

Good video, but I think you should have started with the historic perspective, where the EU's predecessors were formed as a peace project after WWII from the thought that if your neighbour is your biggest trade partner, you're hardly likely to attack him and consequently your own economy. What is the EU? Short answer: a voluntary cooperation of sovereign states, working as equal partners to advance peace, human rights, democracy, prosperity for all members. Through its democratic institutions, it's a constantly evolving project, and the evolutionary direction and speed is decided by its member states together. The institutions have been set up to create a level playing field, so that each member state benefits, and each member state is part of the decision process. The purpose is stated in Article 2 of the Treaty of the EU: "The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail." I think you need to understand the background in order to understand the institutions. 😄

[@sharkmug1583]

That's true, without the background the whole organization doesn't really make sense.

[@AaronOkeanos]

When it comes to the Euro: - Regulation and protections of financial systems - What went wrong in Greece and why the Euro is or is not really the main reason for the problems. - What went wrong in Italy and why the Euro is or is not really the main reason for the problems. - Advantages of Joining the Euro-Zone (Stability (or not), Getting rid of trade deficits, currency manipulation and speculation, and so on.

[@kapoioskanenas2337]

The answers to your questions about Greece and Italy are very complex and im not sure they can be answered in one video alone. It has many factors that play their parts in the crisis. In one hand the euro is not the main reason because these countries already fiscal difficulties on the other hand it is the main cause of prolonged suffering in those countries due to inability to devaluate their currency and loss of competitivenes. Also i would like to note that Italy's situation is quite different from Greece's. Other factors that played a role is the 2008 financial crisis, the recession afterwards, political factors as well the very structure of the eurozone. Even though im very pro EU, in my opinion, there are some very significant faults in the eurozone project, like how can someone have a monetary union without a common fiscal policy

[@AaronOkeanos]

@@kapoioskanenas2337 I mentioned those two because those two are the ones Brexiteer always bring forth for argument against the Euro. Come to think of it. Arguments for the Euro please. I don't really know why in all UK political discussions factual benefits are not discussed. Not on the EU not on the Euro you always only hear the negative contra sides.

[@kalyka98]

Italy and greece honestly wasted money like hell and then cried because they couldn"t pay it back. I live in Italy and here in the past to retire with 80% of your income you needed like 25 years of work, it's not uncommon to find people who spent 20, 30 or even 40 years retired. Like honestly how did they even think it was gonna work? And obviously people get angry when you have to lower standards but those pensions are a shame and should have never been garanted in the first place

[@chillaxo9863]

@@kalyka98 you forget the Greece doesn't have a productive economy and has been in dept since its inception

[@AaronOkeanos]

@@chillaxo9863 So in other words the Euro do not allow them to cheat any longer and force them to build a robust economy, no more foul debts, no more printing money, no more cheating by insane intrest rates or raging inflation. I would call that not necesarrily bad, more like "How to build a sustainable economy" something they would need to do anyway over time because everything else would lead to problems sooner or later.

[@cosmedelustrac5842]

Could you tell us Why Sweden hasn't adopted the Euro?

[@blueLanterns]

If that video is made, could you also explain what is meant by legally obligated and what happens if a country breaks this legal obligation to the EU?

[@Mysterios1989]

If I remember correctly, the issue with Sweden was that they are in theory still obliged to adopt the Euro as soon as they meet the necessary criteria for adopting it, but that, at the time when these criteria were given to Sweden, a few of them could only be fullfilled if Sweden takes an action to establish it. So, Sweden dicided not to take the necessary actions to fullfill the criteria, and because of the rules of that time, they are not in violation to any treaty doing so.

[@cucco1]

Glad someone asked this

[@peo1337]

Sweden held a vote in 2004 and opted out.

[@MirkoC407]

@@peo1337 Which does not matter as they have to introduce it as soon as the criteria are fulfilled. However, as described above they follow the outcome of this referendum plainly by not fulfilling.

[@zelevenz1186]

1)What do al european political parties stand for? 2)How far are we from a single United europe? I myself feel like that's the Future of Europe but I wonder what other Europeans feel like?

[@Languslangus]

All? Are you serious? There are hundreds of thousands.

[@zelevenz1186]

@@Languslangus the pan-european political groups 😉 or if he has time to make such a video al big ones in every country. Might be a lot of work but i'd find it interesting.

[@zelevenz1186]

@A Id Well the EU now is an Union of countries, not a country like the US for example. There's I think a lot of division between each individual country and I wonder whether Europeans (perhaps in same countries more than others) are ready to take it a step further. I myself for example am way more proud to say I'm European instead of Belgian and don't really feel the need for Belgium to exist. I would hapily replace it with European as my nationality. Europe could unite in more ways (like military for example.)

[@Zen-rw2fz]

@A Id in a democracy, it allways helps to be optimistic.

[@TheCatBehind]

I think it might happen eventually. A unified Europe. At first it would be more of a federation than anything, but it's nice thinking of a pan-European single country. Also I don't think it's unrealistic, a lot can happen in the next 20-50 years lol

[@johnhobbes2268]

A funny thing about the Dansk krone is that it is part of of the exchange rate mechanism two. Which means that they have de facto adopted the Euro.

[@gnoccialpesto]

Except that their banks can screw you with "currency conversion charges" (omkostninger)

[@XGD5layer]

Same goes for all other countries that don't have the euro in the EU now, they have adopted ERM II so once the criteria is filled they needed to begin swapping out their currency. The UK was the only country with an actual opt-out.

[@murphyellents]

A video about How the European union was formed and how it started with BeNeLux would be cool in my opinion. Great video and good start with the new TLDR channel, its fun to have one for Europe.

[@Mysterios1989]

The EU didn't really start with BeNeLux, but the first predecessor of the EU was the European Coal and Steel community, which included the BeNeLux, but also France, West Germany and Italy, and was first proposed by the French.

[@sirBrouwer]

The BeNeLux is a separate still standing union.

[@hannahg8439]

Tbh I'm not interested in that at all. That's very basic history, easy to look up and not hard to understand, unlike certain political processes where further exploitation can be very helpful.

[@Vincrand]

@@hannahg8439 It's interesting to know why Countries joined the EU after the people of said countries voted against it. Also why suddenly a lot of referenda got cancelled after the other countries voted against it.

[@hannahg8439]

@Nspnspker What you're talking about is the history of EU member states that were (mostly positively) influenced by the EU. I was referring to the history of the EU itself, like how it was formed as only an economic union at first and then transformed into what we know today. But surely those histories are very closely linked, which is why I agree on your statement that there's a lot of European history that would be interesting to be covered. 👍🏻 Abgesehen davon war ich mir nicht sicher, ob ich auf Deutsch oder Englisch antworten solle.😁

[@realhawaii5o]

4:50 Andorra Vatican City San Marino All these countries also use them.

[@LoFiAxolotl]

Liechtenstein uses the swiss franc (yes might find stores that accept € but the official currency is CHF) Monaco (don't remember if it was named in the video) also uses the € and even in Zimbabwe the € is accepted in most stores

[@zackgeorgly5099]

Malta and Cyprus also use Euro

[@Rolando_Cueva]

Monaco too.

[@Camerongalexander]

If only these videos had existed before the referendum

[@ignatzmeyer1978]

CPG Grey had made such videos years ago.

[@chillaxo9863]

If only there weren't so many illegal immigrants before the referendum...

[@pinchermartyn3959]

Leave vote would have been bigger.

[@pinchermartyn3959]

@Nspnspker A video on why EU hasn't audited it books, corruption in its ranks, and why it's politicians pay less tax than anyone else might be useful too.

[@lostintashkent]

@DownwardsSpiral why do you call us the "Eurabian Union"? Will the UK have fewer arabs once it's left? Do you even know what % of EU residents are muslim? The tone of your comments frighten me. Somehow they remind me of the 1930's.

[@Mysterios1989]

From a legal point of view, the EU is disribed as an organisation in international law of sui generis, meaning that it is its own kind, neither state, nor pure international organisation, but a thing in between.

[@allief1662]

It seems to be caught between being half a federation and half a confederation. 🤔

[@mousticuk3480]

I would say half an Empire and half a dictatorship

[@Mysterios1989]

@@mousticuk3480 so, we found another one who dosnt't understand the EU and rather believes every shit claimed about it.

[@tepesobrejac4360]

Would you make a video about the Shengen area please?

[@FarfettilLejl]

Schengen*

[@tepesobrejac4360]

@@FarfettilLejl Thanks.

[@louisbeerreviews8964]

farfett_il-lejl no it’s shengen

[@matusmisik1442]

Nice video, but so many mistakes. Council of the EU was not even mentioned, the Euro information is all wrong (and it is not an institution, Euro Council is part of European Council - some of the countries mentioned as waiting for euro have been using it for 10-12 years), the European Parliament has three seat officially, the EU has a budget, it levies taxes (on sugar import is a very important source of revenues), there should be borders between candidate countries, etc. This does not help students to understand the EU.

[@aremegoso]

“What it is?”, is a good start

[@DeePal072]

No it's not. A good start is a position to begin with in an evolving process , not somewhere you got stuck for years.

[@aremegoso]

DeePal072 I meant TL;DRs content but are you on about Brexit as a whole?

[@QemeH]

What is the EU? - An organisation sui generis Thanks for coming to my TED Talk :)

[@DagnirGlaurunga]

Protip: "Leyen" is pronounced exactly as "Lion"

[@nicholasrevill6610]

The vatican city, Monaco and Andorra also use the euro

[@fabulouscat3911]

San Marino?

[@petersebok9284]

Monaco under a treaty with France uses the prevailing French currency

[@frcluc]

@@fabulouscat3911, Yes. San Marino also uses and mints Euro coins of their own.

[@simonhopkins3867]

A history of the EU would be good.

[@insanityrulestheday]

@Lumiel In other words, Europe went from "All Quiet on the Western Front" to "All Chaotic on the Domestic Front" aka Robbing hard working Peter to pay for Freeloading Paul. In short, If Sharks were men they would for the first time bring culture to the ocean".

[@maxkick7656]

Initially, Europe was formed as a response to the question how to keep Germany into the Western sphere, not to take sides with USSR

[@insanityrulestheday]

@@maxkick7656 Old Europe was formed at the end of the 15th Century. The present European amalgamation of the EU was formed to prevent Germany from dominating Europe.

[@maxkick7656]

insanityrulestheday yeah I meant the EU, since the video is about it - but it was misleading, true. To prevent Germany dominating Europe was included, yes. But the even bigger concern was that a strong Germany would be very dangerous, if it would take sides with Russia (USSR). Because: there was no doubt that Germany would become an economic strong country anyways. Thus, to include Germany within the EU would prevent a threat from the East.

[@simonhopkins3867]

The ECSC was formed to help keep the peace. But the eec and euratom were formed. They all got together and formed whatever the eu is now. Lol

[@joshuahillerup4290]

I think there has been something like the EU before: the United States *before* it adopted its current constitution

[@Mysterios1989]

?? Wasn't your current constitution adopted at the moment the UK delcared indipendence from England? Because of that, the constitution is called the declaration of indipendence after all. This means, before the US adopted the constitution, it was only a part of the commonwealth, which is nothing like the EU, as it misses the democratic elements, but was a monarchical and hirarchical system.

[@d.b.4671]

@@Mysterios1989 - the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are two different documents. The Declaration written in 1776 just said, "we're leaving Britain and this is why." The Constitution formed the actual government of the U.S., but didn't become official until 1789. What Joshua is talking about is the period in between, when the states were governed by a different document called the Articles of Confederation. Even that document wasn't adopted until 1781, and the government it created was such a dysfunctional mess that it had to be replaced with an entirely new system. Here's a series from Extra Credits on KZbin that explains it pretty well: kzbin.info/aero/PLjLK2cYtt-VDhehVBOUiBAZGNkA5nrdR0

[@MDP1702]

I'd say the EU is what the US was between it's inception and the civil war. During this time it slowly moved from a confederacy to a federal nation. The civil war was just the moment this transition was concluded.

[@maxkick7656]

Archangel17 First, the EU does not have a Constitution (always failed to establish one). Second, whether the EU could be considered as federal or not depends on the policy field that are being issued.

[@MDP1702]

@@maxkick7656 As was the case with the US in it's first decades. Sure it had the constitution, but in regards to powerdistribution etc. the first few decades (2-3) of the US is quite similar to the EU. In the end the constitution is just the highest laws/rules off the nation, the EU has also got rules, just not in an official constitution format.

[@Supermunch2000]

First proper video, first proper "thank you" post!

[@orestisbe6978]

I would say important topics should include: *How EU laws work and are supposed to be implemented (like the difference between directives and regulations). *A series of videos as an overview on the political parties of each member state and of the euro-parties. *Current (or relatively recent) news on the EU.

[@maxkick7656]

orestis be Regulations are legally binding (“hard-law“), directives are more up to interpretation of Member States (though not as loose as recommendations - “soft-law“), thus more intergovernmental

[@hannahg8439]

I'd like to see this channel keeping us updated on issues currently being discussed in the European Parliament.

[@barbarianislander3805]

Can you do a video going into some detail about the parties in the EU Parliament, please?

[@ki4345]

A video on how the eu defends customer and civilian rights would be pretty nice

[@LoFiAxolotl]

They don't, the EU makes laws that then every EU member country has to adopt as a minimum... EU laws are usually very lax on any issue and it's then up to the member states to implement stricter laws... this is done in order to have everyone agree on the laws even if for a particular government customer and civil rights are unimportant.... if the EU laws says ohhh just make a law acknowleding theres humans nobody would complain... but then Belgium, Germany, Slovenia, Poland, etc etc would have wildly different laws about that

[@xthor86]

They do not. They set a minimum that makes civilian and customers rights worse or better depending on the country targeted by the EU.

[@xthor86]

@mininmalta 123 because it actually lower the standards off countries that previously had better ones then what the EU has set as a minimum.

[@alphamikeomega5728]

@@xthor86 ...do you understand what "minimum" means?

[@xthor86]

@@alphamikeomega5728 fullt aware. And do you know what happened when you enshrine a minimum as law? Thats the New standard.

[@nataliehanson851]

I wish you had subtitles or other wording in your videos, it makes it much easier when I ask students to answer questions about it and it also helps my students who are still learning English. Just a thought!

[@szalailaci3722]

(Romania): They should have mentioned the Counsil of the European Union. They mentioned the European Council, but that's something else. Both are bodies of the EU. And there is also the Council of Europe, (47 states), I just learned today these are three different things. Alright, they wanted to simplify.

[@milton7763]

There is irony to the fact that a British channel is now starting a series of explain videos on what the EU is at a time when people seem to have accepted that Brexit is inevitably going to happen (form tbd) It feels a bit like that news item indicating a spike in google searches for “what is the EU?” (or something similar) the day AFTER the referendum

[@khalifbih]

You forgot that Bosnia 🇧🇦 also has applied for EU membership. You didn't mention that. You also forgot that Sweden 🇸🇪 doesn't use Euro. They still use their own currency "SEK" - the "Swedish crown".

[@louisbeerreviews8964]

Habo no they got there own money

[@hannahg8439]

I'd like a video about the trade relationships the EU has with other countries, including failed trade deals like TTIP.

[@pontan8084]

I hope this channel will do well. Also can you explain why some but not all countries are in the Eurozone? Like isnt Sweden is in that. And a few others

[@Lightbeerer]

I was going to remark that Sweden has its own currency, Svenska kronor (SEK), so should have been mentioned along with the UK and Denmark as countries that have opted out of the Euro.

[@pontan8084]

@@Lightbeerer I was looking into it and appearently they didnt opt out the same way the others did, they did something else but its confusing

[@eimantaskrunglevicius]

Some countries haven't reach criterion others like Poland and Sweden just postponed. If I not mistaking it's mandatory, but if country don't apply for Euro they can't force to adapt it.

[@theharbingerofconflation]

In Varietate Concordia they chose not to be. The entirety of Scandinavia is in a trade agreement with the EU. It’s a tighter agreement than the one the UK will have, but it’s still just a trade agreement. One reason I believe is that all Scandinavian Countries hate each other. Best I can describe the situation is this: Norway and Finland were on opposite sides during WWII so they hate each other, Both dislike Sweden for being „more modern“ and thinking „it’s better“. While Sweden thinks Norway and Finland are backwards and ruled by the rich. All three agree that Denmark shouldn’t be considered part of Scandinavia and also think that they instead of Denmark should own Greenland. So not a big friendship all around. Add to that the fact that they all speak different languages that sound very different if you listen and you have the situation wrapped up. I probably make it sound worse than it is. Except for Norway and Finland, I swear they are gonna start a war someday.

[@pontan8084]

@@theharbingerofconflation Well I for one who lives in Scandinavia knows this isnt true. All of these countries like eachother and it is not hard at all to understand. Norwegian and Swedish for example, they can understand almost everything eachother say.

[@turlstreet]

You forgot to mention the only thing worth mentioning about the European "Parliament": MEPs cannot initiate legislation, which is literally the only purpose of an elected chamber. Added to the appointed nature of the Council and Commission, this is what makes the EU undemocratic. After 40 years of this rubber-stamp parliament, they still haven't managed to give it legislative initiative. That's the main criticism of this institution, as well as the main reason why the UK is leaving. The only purpose for continuing to elect MEPs is to continue the farce of making it appear to be democratic, because few in the media bother to point this out to the public.

[@athanasioskomnos3540]

European Defense policies! Will there be an EU-army or not?

[@tm23822]

Hopefully not. The line between the most radical eurosceptics nightmares being ravings or reality is the EU having the ability to enforce its laws. It's really that simple. Imo, if the EU had an army, it would turn into a very ugly place to live. The fact that it's toothless makes it a largely benign actor. Each member states can pretty much do whatever they want at the end of the day because the EU can't actually make them do anything. It's like the US during its beginning stages.

[@deeros100]

@@tm23822 On the other hand, if the EU had its own NATO of sorts (which is basically what the EU army would be) then we would basically be able to get away from the US and their warmongering ways.

[@tm23822]

@@deeros100 I think that would be a great idea! As long as it's an alliance of militaries loyal to their individual sovereign parliaments, and not a military body loyal to the EU

[@EpaminondastheGreat]

It should be, otherwise how the EU could ever possibly provide the European citizens with a safe and secure society?

[@tm23822]

@@EpaminondastheGreat I love the irony of the user name with that response lmao

[@marvmarv89]

I can't wait for more videos on this channel. =) As a German, I already loved all the coverage on the latest Brexit news on your other channel. It made it super easy for me to understand what was going on. I love the narrator's voice and the quality of the videos, therefore I am super excited for all the interesting EU related videos to come!

[@TheCatBehind]

I'm actually really interested in all the smaller groups and arrangements! I only discovered that the Visegrad group actually exists and it can have an influence on decisions taken by the V4 so videos on all of them would be nice

[@ashra8281]

It's a very advance trade block basically. I mean it's far more complex that but...

[@oslowcloud]

Excited for the rest of the series !

[@eliasraptis3409]

Interesting topics to cover -European Constitution -Western Balkan candidates (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia) -Greek debt crisis and why it was the most serious (three bailout programmes) -Greek management of the coronavirus pandemic -EU-Switzerland agreements -Council of the EU, European Council and Council of Europe -EU exclusive competences, EU-MS shared competences

[@XGD5layer]

Explaining that relation chart real quick would be nice.

[@mseg1437]

Hi. Just watched this video. One error. There is only ONE European Parliament, not two. It is located in Strasbourg. The plenary session are all taking place there. The other building in Brussels is used for the preparatory works and specialised work groups

[@jaredhamon3411]

Articles of Confederation were very similar. (US history).

[@koenvandiest8451]

WHat's the difference between the opt out of Denmark and the UK and Sweden and Poland who also don't use the Euro?

[@Mysterios1989]

The Euro has conditions to be met to be adopted. It means that you can be a part of the EU before you meet the economical and financial conditions to be a member of the EU in order to prevent another greece situation (these rules existed already when Greece became part, but back than, nobody cared that Greece faked their numbers to look like they are ready for the Euro). The difference between an opt out and the other nations is that the opt out nations technically already fullfill these conditions, but because they were already a part of the club when the Euro was created, they were able to put in an astrix just for their own. Nations that came into the Union after the basic rules were established couldn't get an opt out Astrix, so are obliged to become an Euro member as soon as they meet the criteria.

[@ShadowFalcon]

Well, in the case of Denmark, it's an exception, that arose from us voting no to the Maastricht treaty in 1992, and then voting yes to the Edinburgh Agreement (a kind of "Maastricht with Exceptions").

[@ChilapaOfTheAmazons]

*The EU is almost a country,* composed of 27 Nations. I say almost because there's one missing thing for it to become a real country, they must ask to be internationally recognised as one. But they don't want to ask.

[@jokuvaan5175]

It's not simply a country. It doesn't have a military, only passes laws on certain issues, taxation differs winldly, the members don't consider EU a country, it still has borders and crossing them requires documentation, no common union wide budget etc.

[@ChilapaOfTheAmazons]

There's a good video that explains why it's almost but not quite a country: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ3NYmVtibCoarM

[@ChilapaOfTheAmazons]

@@jokuvaan5175 several of the things that you mention also apply to the USA. Also the EU does have a common budget (in parallel to the local ones of the individual member states).

[@LoFiAxolotl]

A country needs 3 defining factors... The land which it governs, the people who make up it's population and who is the government.... the EU is a country since all 3 are fulfilled... we have legal definitions for a reason. It doesn't fit with the common term Country but that doesn't mean shit and nobody really cares who the UN recognizes or not

[@jokuvaan5175]

@@ChilapaOfTheAmazons Well yea it's the EU's own budget but it is not really combining the member state budgets into one. UN also has their own a budget for example.

[@hurri7720]

PS. Sweden did not adopt the euro even if the industry would have liked to do it.

[@Pontusistaken]

A great video. Concerning weather or not the EU is more like a federation or an intergovernmental organisation it depends on which area and what type of law. On areas such as Agriculture, borders and food safety etc. it is more like a federation, on areas such as Crime it is more like a confederation and on areas such as foreign policy and military it is more like sovereign states. You can also see this in the several types of laws that the EU can make. Regulations, Directives, Decisions, all different types of laws that also has a federation, confederation as well as a intergov. org. feeling to them.

[@Pontusistaken]

@A Id Well true but isn't it a technicality? I mean Directives and regulations has to be followed and that means that the member states has to makes laws according to them. Sometimes word by word. So sure the EU can't make laws, but they can make directives and regulations which are legal acts that make laws. They're just one step removed.

[@Pontusistaken]

@A Id well that isn't true. The Parliament is elected and the council is chosen by our elected officials. Is there a democratic deficit. Maybe cand it be improved for sure. But absolutely not undemocratic even if it was actual laws and not one step removed legal acts ^^,

[@LoFiAxolotl]

@@Pontusistaken It makes a huge different if it's a Law or Directive for a Law... if the Law says every cat has to be brown... and every EU member state has to adopt it then my cat dies.... If the Directive says make a law about Cat being brown... Germany could make a Law saying cats can be brown and black and green....and my cat might survive... really shitty example... but the Laws made by the EU are usually pretty vague and you can see the implementation and actual laws in the countries vary wildly in some cases

[@Pontusistaken]

@@LoFiAxolotl Ah but that is my point concerning the different type of legal acts(laws). In certain areas the EU could say that all cats must be brown and Germany would have to adopt a law saying all cats must be brown. I think that I what regulations are. Then in certain areas there are legal acts that each member state can interpret it them self. So if the EU says that all cats must be brown, Sweden might kill all brown cats where as Germany would castrate all brown cats with the same effect. The first example seems more like a federation the second like a confederation or a intergov. Org.

[@jamesquaine6264]

Please keep doing these videos!!, also can you cover the Irish general election that's coming up??

[@JfkJames]

You should do a video about all the leaders of each EU country

[@horvathlaszlo96]

lol I loved how you didn't even mention Romania when you talked about the currency hahahahaha

[@dr.johannesmunch891]

4:39 you missed out la Città del Vaticano, which actually was a Euro founder state and introduced the Euro as one of the first! They actually have their own mint, coining their own Euros, which are on highest bit among collectors.

[@paisto]

The history of the Euro starts in 1975 with the European Unit of Account, replaced in 1979 by the European Currency Unit, which evolved to the Euro in 1999. The origin of this idea was the Bretton Woods system creatend in 1944, including Canada, Australia, United States and Japan, besides some european countries. To give a perspective, the European Coal and Steel Community (the beginning of the EU) appeared in 1955, which makes the idea of a common close to fixed exchange rate between countries (the main reason for the existence of the Euro) prior to the EU itself. History also explains why Sweden, Denmark and the UK decided to abandon or not to join this project and why it was accepted.

[@gasperle]

Great that you did a video on this channel

[@fabio4366]

3:05 with Brexit there are 705 members of the parliament, not 751

[@JereyStonearm]

Nice that you are focussing across the English Channel, instead of focussing across the Atlantic. However, at least one mistake i Found: Sweden and Poland also opted out of the Euro when it was introduced.

[@TheCatBehind]

Poland isn't really planning on using the euro anytime soon, I don't think🤔

[@OllieX123]

I think it’d be worth also mentioning the Council of the EU (different to European council). It’s the 2nd institution actually involved in voting for legislation other than the European Parliament.

[@zaelu]

You forgot about Romania's status on joining Euro zone...

[@lorenzodibernardini8891]

you overlookd the European ministry council (Council of the European Union).

[@alexpotts6520]

The title of this video was also Britain's most Googled question on 24th June 2016. Bit late guys...

[@TheCutiepuffs]

can you do a video on rapporteurs and the triologue process? as a canadian student of EU politics I find this process very confusing and would love an explainer

[@MagiconIce]

Imho a video would be cool about which powers the EU has and which not more in detail, since I'm sick of people stating, that the EU allegedly is a dictatorship or any other nonsense.

[@TheTrackRecord]

Would be great to see a video where you go in greater depth into the commission. :).

[@maxwarren2852]

Would love to see a video on EU accession, and the nations that want to join, what stage they are in the process, etc. but also a video on states with secessionist parties and aspirations.

[@jack0lantern03]

Could you guys cover the current situation on the yellow vests? The protests are still ongoing, but pretty much all the media in the world have gone mum on the subject.

[@moooonlightttt]

So glad tldr created a eu focused channel! I would love to see a more detailed video about the European Parliament

[@TrabberShir]

"asterisks" if I remember how that way too popular video about this topic that is surprisingly meme worthy went.

[@augustagleton3715]

5:00 Actually, Sweden has an opt-out too.

[@Me1le]

Any EU nation not in the eurozone can decide not to join the Eurozone by purposefully not fulfilling the criteria required to join. However legally only Denmark and the UK have a hard (as in permanent) opt-out.

[@PregnantOrc]

Sweden has an opt out in practice, for now. Sweden agreed to join the Euro (after a referendum where they people said no.) Sweden opts out by not fullfilling the requirements to join but should the requirements change Sweden would have to join or deal with legal problems from the EU.

[@sagichnicht6748]

It hink the best short answer to what the EU is is simply saying it is a confederation with federal aspects based on international treaties between sovereign member states. I am not sure if this is clarifying a lot but I think it is the most compact and still most precise answer one can give.

[@nessuno3783]

4:53 San Marino and Vatican City also use the Euro

[@MegaBallPowerBall]

Nessuno San Marino, Vatican City, Andorra, and Monaco all have treaties allowing them to use Euros despite not being EU members. Kosovo and Montenegro don't have treaties allowing them to use Euros, but they use it anyway.

[@supermankelly]

You guys seem to only create channels on things that will end 😉

[@Ms-zr1dn]

Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City also use the euro via a monetary agreement with the EU.

[@MlaZad]

I'd like to see a TLDR EU video about the Natura 2000 Ecological Network. :-) Also, what will happen to the Natura 2000 sites in the UK after Brexit?

[@Maltazar0090ita]

I'd like to see a video which explore the topic of a transition from the EU to an European Federation.

[@LoFiAxolotl]

This is a news channel not fiction... if it happens or becomes a realistic possibility they will surely make a video about it... until then it's purely speculative

[@xthor86]

It Will be post apocalyptic horror. With massive civil wars all over europe.

[@Jungfrun1]

What the difference between why Denmark does not use the Euro and why Sweden does not use the Euro?

[@TinkeringDaemon]

As an affected born in an OMR I think people does not understand what are the EU special territories and is a good topic to talk about

[@XescMainzer]

At 3:36 you mention the name of the group as the "Greens - European Free TRADE Alliance", but it should be "Greens - European Free Alliance" instead

[@TheCutiepuffs]

oh, also a video on socalled “judicial lawmaking” by the CJEU (especially the establishment of direct effect and supremacy) would be interesting

[@joaomelo7018]

I feel personally attacked that you chose Portugal as the cute little image that broke EU law.

[@javierslytherin9898]

Really? xdddd

[@emilybailey8682]

Don’t forget the Council of Ministers!

[@foscacriscuolo7340]

The president of the Parliament is Roberta Metsola

[@DrBovdin]

I would love to hear you tackle the weirdness of the way Sweden dodges joining the Euro, which it technically is obliged to do. Sweden, unlike its neighbour Denmark, does not have a real opt-out for the Euro but still held a referendum in 2003 asking whether the Euro should be introduced or not, resulting in a "not". Since then they have circumvented joining by not fullfilling the convergence criteria (i.e. not joining the ERM II). So for the time being, they stand outside the Euro cooperation. It would be nice to address the issue of how long this strategy is viable, and if it is possible that the whole Brexit mess will force something to happen. The same goes for the other non-Euro countries that more or less artificially, intentionally are keeping themselves out of the system (Poland, Czechia, Hungary).

[@Quintinohthree]

I believe the difference is that Sweden has met the criteria for entering the ERM II, but has no obligation to enter it, whereas other reluctant EU members are obligated to enter ERM II when they meet the same criteria.

[@Warrenbowser3]

What happens to the EU parliament when the UK leaves

[@insanityrulestheday]

It will row row row it's boat down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily the EU is but a Dream.

[@Quintinohthree]

UK MEP's are dismissed and a few countries get a couple extra seats, but not all the seats left by the UK will be filled. To be exact, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden will gain one seat, Ireland will gain two seats, Italy and the Netherlands gain 3 and France and spain gain five, while 46 of 73 UK seats will be removed from the Parliament. Who will fill each of these reassigned seats is already determined by the May 2019 election results. Political groups that had UK parties in Parliament will all shrink or stay equal at best, while the few that had none gain a couple seats.

[@ChristianIce]

We will disinfect the chair Farage used to sit on.

[@olegmamchych]

Would be nice to see the video about possible new countries entering EU in near future. Thank you very much!

[@hubertp7657]

It would be great to see a video on the idea of further federalisation of the EU

[@kablg81]

As an EU citizen who is not much into politics I'll say *at best is that the EU is a loose confederation* and *at worst a big trading union* which has freedom of movement of goods, people and business(capital/money) that also makes some laws.

[@simonjandrell5897]

The People who run this Show are asking this Question Still???? even they do not Know??? and i still do not No till this Day????

[@insanityrulestheday]

To put it bluntly, It's like Beckett's play, "Waiting for Godot".

[@ilidiocarmona4827]

A peace project that has evolved into a political and economical block of free nations! i just saved you 7:00 minutes.....you´re welcome!!

[@Infinitystar225]

Ilidio Carmona not really

[@pkaczyn]

Denmark was missing on your map (1:28)

[@gasperle]

Pls do more videos like this. Also do videos what is going on in Eu institutions

[@covmacgirl]

please cover why the EU Parliament has two seats (Brussels and Strasbourg)

[@casillan185]

Could you make a video about the trillion euro EU climate change plan?

[@hannahg8439]

Interested in how stable the Euro is as a currency, considering all the economic factors that contributed to the Euro/Greece crisis. Also, how likely is something like that to happen again, now that Italy's struggling a lot? Is the Euro ruining the economies of economically less powerful/stable countries? If the Euro collapsed, what would that mean for the European countries, the Union and the world's economy? Does this currency really have a future?

[@LoFiAxolotl]

For every single country in the EU joining the EU and adopting the € has been a huge boost to their economy.... Greece's problem wasn't the € but the inability to default their currency to avoid debt payments... Greece dug their own hole.... I think we should've offered them much more help but that's besides the point.... The € is often attributed to be the most stable currency in the world... because there have been put measures in place that prevents it from being devalued/defaulted.... it helps stable economies like Germany, France, Belgium etc more than for example Greece or Romania.... but even for them it has a huge advantage in that they can get much cheaper loans than they would on their own economy.... without the € Greece would've looked at Venezuelan levels of crisis or worse... France and Germany as the biggest € economies have no interest in abolishing the € and since it has lots of advantages for smaller countries too it's unlikely that it will go away any time soon except in case it will be replaced by something better... can't predict the future... The world economy is looking at a downturn not just Italy btw.... Germany, the US, Canada, New Zealand, China.... everywhere growth is slowing down... the economy is cyclic... every upwards trend is followed by a downwards trend and so on

[@hannahg8439]

@@LoFiAxolotl Thank you for your reply, but I fear you didn't completely understand what I was referring to. I know of all the advantages you named, however what I was aiming at are the "reasons why the UK didn't adapt the euro". If you google that, you'll see what I mean. Also, listen to Yanis Varoufakis' points on that issues. I know he's kinda biased but nevertheless he has some valid points. Thanks for your detailed explanation anyway!

[@jamesbuesnel5054]

Hannah G it was a big experiment and it has shown how different the economies of italy and Greece are to Germany and France. Who knows whether it will last... if Italy tanks in the near future they are 10x the size of Greece, so could be another huge test...

[@chasekarbon5572]

I don't think you included the Council Ministers who are crucial to Ordinary Legislative Procedure. But otherwise, great video and I hope to see more in the future.

[@davidprentice2015]

You should do a video comparing the structure of the modern EU to the early United States under the Articles of Confederation. I think you’ll be surprised at how much they have in common.

[@johndoe-hr6vp]

How about starting with something even easier, what's its name? They've dropped Europe from the name, the organization is now just The Union.

[@TheTrojanhorse2010]

Nice, informative video.

[@manorexia1964]

I didn’t knew that Kosovo and Montenegro uses the euro. Andorra use it too and it’s outside....

[@imogenbespokesewing2968]

Just subscribed . Now follow all your channels . Love your news style . Thanks