Why The EU's Future Is Surprisingly Uncertain

Why The EU's Future Is Surprisingly Uncertain
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Links to sources:
docs.google.com/document/d/1b...

[@OBFYT]

Yeah soooooo, I forgot to mark out Denmark as part of the EU in the intro. It's funny because I'm Danish..... Please don't kill me my fellow Danes

[@TheGrace020]

Got me thinking there for a second 😭

[@E4439Qv5]

krone moment

[@FarEast56]

"ironic, he can put others on EU but not himself" - Palpatine the Senate

[@FullMetalPier]

>:( remake the video

[@mortenpoulsen1496]

was just thinking why you of all peope would forget that.🤣

[@robertcepo1505]

"For the first time since 2nd world war, Europe has plunged into war." Ex-Yugoslav states: are we a joke to you?

[@ACMH98]

I think Cyprus wants a word as well

[@jasastopar]

*major war

[@aquincum9482]

It was a bit different. It was a civil war

[@UndiagnosedGarbage]

It is a joke to the EU lmao. EUs handling of it proved incompetence so bad that they still get shit for it. Dropping expired rations from world War 2? Like holy fuck.

[@lkjhfdszxcvbnm]

@@aquincum9482 Also Cyprus? Or suddenly we recognize Cyprus to be in Asia?

[@bettasbetta]

At times you seem to confuse the European Union (EU) and the Eurozone. The two concepts are different. There was a serious risk that Greece would leave the Eurozone, but its EU membership was never in question.

[@eliza9799]

Is there a real talk about Greece leaving the Zone. I am asking since Bulgaria would enter it in 2024 and the goverment in the last 2 yrs have taken actions in this direction

[@bettasbetta]

@@eliza9799 Not really. There was a time when Tsipras and Varoufakis were lightly threatening that Greece would leave the Eurozone, but it would have been a disaster for Greece and they knew it.

[@eliza9799]

@@bettasbetta Huh, interesting. I never heard of that. We do have a lot of polarization in our country about the euro and it's quite the mess rn.

[@alexandervlaescu9901]

@@bettasbetta Also staying in the Eurozone is like willingly wearing chains on your limbs. If Greece had its own currency , it could have gone through the crisis (albeit it would hurt in the short term). With the euro a lot of automatic mechanisms that would allow Greece to tide through the various crises are simply unavailable. Greece has been basically going through a decade+ long economic crisis.

[@thanasisrks4944]

Ya here in Greece many do not like the way the EU violates our culture and forces laws to us, plus funding turkey, so we want nothing to do with it.

[@christostsiam5535]

There had never been a serious prospect of greece exiting the EU, the discussion was only about leaving the Eurozone, returning to its former currency, drachma

[@dinosaur4566]

Correct. Also the books were cooked to get into Eurozone- not the EU

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

In hindsight it might have been better if the EU had been stricter in allowing member states to join the Euro.

[@IamSome1]

the people voted yes, and the prime minister said no anyway, so Greece is shit

[@tiefensucht]

@@patrickmccutcheon9361 Nah, less stricter. The EU doesn't need a common current in order to work.

[@gloekgloek3046]

@@patrickmccutcheon9361 Greece wasnt allowed to join the euro

[@ChilapaOfTheAmazons]

This is a really shallow and biased overview that includes a ton of mistakes and questionable opinions presented as fact. It's an important topic and it deserves more accurate coverage. 🙄

[@alexrenn2479]

Totally agree!!

[@thatgreenguy244]

Can u say some examples?

[@HallsofMnemosyne]

Agreed. Thank you for pointing this out.

[@Denyo666]

Agree!

[@andrejveljanoski8780]

For real. You can see his left wing leaning bias

[@BatCaveOz]

"For the first time since the Second World War, Europe was plunged into war". Yugoslavia might disagree.

[@Komentariram]

It was a civil war. However Nato bombing of Serbia was similar to what Russia is doing to Ukraine now

[@TheGentry000]

​@@Komentariram not even close buddy. serbia got away with just a couple of scratches but the same can not be said about their neighbors which are still feeling the aftereffects of the war, caused by serbs.

[@Matthijsklaassen]

​@@Komentariram Yugoslavia (or Serbia) was committing crimes against humanity. That is why NATO intervened and Serbian leaders have been brought to trial. NATO countries were upholding international law as agreed by all countries in the UN. Proof of such crimes against ethnic Russians by Ukrainians is unfulfilling, midly put. Your comparison is weak.

[@Komentariram]

@@Matthijsklaassen WOW Bahahahha how much CNN did you watched? My God. Ignorance of its people is what will sadly destroy western empire and dominance in 21st century and i could not blame someone from 90' for believing in such propaganda BS but in today's age where anyone with functioning brain can type a few words into google and check the FACT i will never understand and approve. Your opinion about Serbia will never change and i will not try to convince you of anything but saying that UN approved Nato aggression??? Like seriously how can you believe in that? How can UN approve destroyment of a Country based on Countrys defense of separatists let by terrorist that are btw now in that international court you mention ( Kosovar Albanian separatist that created such monstrosities even west had to bring them to justice even if they where sponsors of all of that ) And just to tell you once again Yugoslavia was one Country, it wasn't like Soviet Union. Many people ( as high as 60% in Bosnian federation ) never wanted out of Yugoslavia, that is why CIVIL war broke out. The only crime was that USA and Nato wanted Yugoslavia to broke not into 6 republic's that it had but even to create 7th because the smaller fractions the more control they have.

[@vladivanov5500]

@@Komentariram The two aren't mutually exclusive.

[@UmbraHand]

Genuine question. Why isn't the Yugoslavian Civil War and subsequent genocides and war between former states considered when the war in Ukraine is stated to be the first war in Europe since WW2?

[@puny_God]

I hate the whole "what abouts", but war is war. If Ukraine is getting a lot of attention while other older (or current) ones didn't, it's no one's fault. People suffer from it in the end.

[@jensverstraete4722]

i suppose they see the other wars as more of a civil war then an invasion

[@UmbraHand]

@@puny_God Revolutionary idea: All wars should get attention and denounce the belligerents. Full stop. Stuff is not black and white

[@TheMusiclover500]

Because the US & NATO started that one and Russia started this one 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@AnjaPraprotnik]

@@TheMusiclover500 The South Slavic peoples started that one. Not everything revolves around the USA and NATO. The USA and NATO definitely get involved eventually, but the Balkans don’t need outside help to bicker. We’ve been doing it for centuries.

[@BGames-hv3pr]

I don’t like this video, it has some misleading information in it, Hungarian president has no power compared to its PM who is the one that is more Russia oriented and nationalistic rather than open to the European Union, same goes for Poland. Where Germany has vetoed the gas supply from Russia few months back. Expansion of Eu is also unlikely due to the fact that the candidate states are not covering the standards EU has set for new entrants. A lot of people also forget that there has been other wars in Europe way after the Second World War, an example would be the Yugoslavian war in the end of the 20th century, marking the shaking political relationships in the region. I’m not sure about this but Serbia has always been pro Russia and has based its economy around this fact and if anything, it would not be able to join the Union due to their nationalistic problem of accepting Kosovo as a state.

[@nombre3053]

and the maps are terrible, first we have Denmark, this classical non-EU country and later the UK, you know, where until brexit you could pay with euros since it is in the eurozone...isn't?

[@akiraraiku]

Kosovo isn't a state that's why. It's a territory run by an albanian islamist mafia. All the while being basically just a big american/nato military base. Kosovo is serbian territory according to a UN resolution.

[@nieboniebieskie3502]

Polish goverment is not Russia oriented

[@BGames-hv3pr]

@@nieboniebieskie3502 I meant that it’s more anti western politics if anything the polish government does everything opposite of what the eu tells them to do

[@25thbaam43]

polish pro russia?🤣 my G go read a book ..a history one pls

[@DonHrvato]

1:11 the map of Germany was not like that when it all started. It was only West Germany. The DDR was not part of the pre-EU project

[@alexw8867]

I was going to say that too

[@clinker85]

@@alexw8867 same here

[@DonMatek]

Lots of errors in this vid.

[@kiterkun1606]

Maybe he was just talking about the countries in general, and West Germany is today's Germany just bigger? de facto, the GDR was only eaten up (which is why i still don't understand why people say that both countries have become a new united Germany)

[@dergotzvonberlichingen4880]

And Saarland was also not a part of the FRG at this point

[@Knez_Pavle]

You know a geopolitics youtuber is lacklustre when they say that the Russo-Ukranian war of aggression is the first time since ww2 that Europe has been plunged into war.

[@lozoft9]

Northern and Western Europeans love to pretend that the Balkans and Ireland don't exist.

[@kmmz4445]

lol my guy forgot about the balkans

[@TinyCloud90]

@@kmmz4445 they always do, apparently we are not in Europe

[@redtigergaming1467]

they probably say "the biggest armed conflict since ww2"

[@Knez_Pavle]

@@redtigergaming1467 You should probably watch the video before making assumptions.

[@analogGigabyte]

It's funny how people forget to mention that less than 10% of that money actually went to Greece. Most of it was spent to pay for whatever exposure the German and French banks had to certain assets at the time. It was a brilliant move by Merkel to serve Deutchebank with a second bailout without calling it one. People also keep forgetting that the bailout money were money loaned, not given for free, the Greeks will be paying back that money for a very long time. Lastly, one can't forget that the EU and IMF, blatantly admitted numerous times that they made mistakes with the economic austerity they imposed and the damage it caused to the Greek people, their economy and their society.

[@somethingelse9228]

Can you link more resources for the Greek debt crisis? I really want to know what happened with Greece and how much did these bailouts help/harm.

[@shawnjavery]

Or that the business plans of Greece largely didn't work after they joined the EU. The stronger Euro made them less attractive as a tourist destination since it became more expensive to go there, with turkey becoming the premier destination with its cheap lira. Also what manufacturing that did exist in Greece only ever could compete due to currency manipulation, you just won't be as efficient as Germany in a mountainous country like Greece. Which also went away when they joined the EU.

[@philz.1521]

Most of the Money was spent for German and French banks rightfully so. Insolvency happens when someone (in this case greek) can no longer payback their liabilities. And most of the lenders were German and French banks, so in order for greece to not go insolvent, they had to pay these banks. Now ofcourse one could argue that german and french banks shouldnt have lended money to greece in the first place, but greece wasnt really transparant about their financial situation.

[@NakedAvanger]

@@somethingelse9228 no he cant because he's a degenerate conspiracy theorist.

[@AngelosGT]

@@philz.1521 They were completely transparent to all the parties that it really mattered to be. It's just that they were all in for it.

[@eLeft6]

There was no fiscal requirements in order to join the EU when Greece joined in 1981. You probably meant the eurozone and not the EU.

[@fabrizio9015]

F inally someone pointed out

[@zedero8]

Yeah, Greece experienced huge economic growth when it joined the EU (the EEC back then)

[@chrisgeorgiou8680]

@@zedero8 Greece actually had experienced huge economic growth for nearly three decades, 1950-1980, second only to Japan. When we joined in 1981, huge amounts of cash flowed into the country (cohesion funds). However the socialist government made the worst possible use of them, spending them around and hiring hundreds of thousands of civil employees, in jobs that weren't necessary at all, in most cases actually... devised. That is they squandered EU money to buy political influence. On top of that they borrowed lots of money as well. The result was an increase of public debt, along with slower economic growth! What a feat!!! In the 80's Greece saw the 2nd slower growth amongst European countries, only... socialist Sweden fared worse in that matter (they were forced to cut back their highly regarded welfare state as a result). Greece used false data to join the eurozone, not very much though. Politicians of the time attempted to join the euro while keeping the wasteful public sector intact. Once joined, borrowing became a lot easier, and overspending kept on. Until it became unsustainable, and it was ended abruptly. Yet, people and many populist politicians blamed the EU for this, not the policies. Europe's biggest responsibility (and failure) was to check where the money was spent in, as well as to audit the country's fiscal policies - which they should do, as we shared a common currency (let alone the deficit and debt restrictions set, aka Maastricht criteria), although the country is a sovereign nation.

[@hungrygrimalkin5610]

@@chrisgeorgiou8680 Is your last name Papadopoulos? Did you really leave the junta out of it? Oh sure its all those damn socialists fault, like Tzoutzoukos says quite often, the left destroyed my sandcastle, writhing like the foolish todler he is. So the military Junta 1967-1973 doubled the public debt to from 33bn to 70 bn drove half a million people outside of the country for work to Germany reducing this way the unemployment rates. Deleted the farmers debts suuuure but that was a move to stop farmer retaliation for the reduced exports like as high as 25% and product laid to waste as the agricultural economy took a nosedive. Household taxes amounted to as high a 90% while corporate taxes for their rich friends went down putting all the tax weight to workers. Damn I could go on about how construction companies would borrow money from foreign banks with the states backing but the explanation would go wasted to a fascist like you. But now the debt under the goverment of New "Democracy" rose up to 600 bn, from 380bn! Also press freedom is at 108 and the Justice system oh my the Justice system even forges FBI documents so Tzoutzoukos could get away. Live happy in your banania moron and always blame thos damn socialists!

[@davidgreen6490]

That was one of the big issues. The biggest of course was freedom of movement before economic alignment, that was the most terminal policy the Europeans ever devised.

[@ThorsMartell]

I am German and I fully agree with the French position. The EU has grown too large and diverse for it's system of making unanimous decisions. Furthermore, there is still way too much corruption, missmangement and poverty within the EU. Red Tape in Bruxxels has grown beyond control. And there is too little direct democracy. We need to reform the existing EU first, to make the EU attracktive to rich and stable countries, not just small, poor and instable countries. More direct democracy, less red tape. A directly elected EU-president would be a first step.

[@TheSamuiman]

Centralized power exercised by a non elected bureaucracy is a no, no leading in to a form of dictatorship of a few over nearly 500 Mil. people of different ethnicities, culture and language! he various member states should retain their sovereignty and independence! The EU Commission should only overlook, secure trade and markets and multilateral agreements, none else! There are approx. 35.000Lobbyists in Bruxelles and Strasbourg - WHY and for whose interests?

[@osasunaitor]

@@TheSamuiman hahaha here come the populists again with their "non-elected EU bureaucrats" bullshit. If you had a little education, you'd know that you elect the EU administration much in the same way that you elect your national government. Every EU citizen can vote in 5-yearly EU elections to the EU Parliament, and the elected EU MPs then appoint a EU Commission (government) and president. Then, the EU Council is formed with the elected leaders (PMs) of each member state. It's basically a representative democracy like most western countries have. But nooo, you are just a tw@t who parrots whatever you've been told by your local populist circus politicians.

[@someoneinthecrowd4313]

You're just trying to create a country. I warn you, if you don't stray away from this path, there will be blood.

[@SirBalageG]

Viktor Orbán for the win then! :D I'm obviously joking....

[@eruiluvatar7155]

@@TheSamuiman But the EU *does* have elections, though

[@muratmusics]

10:23 this is NOT Europe's first major war since ww2. Hundreds of thousands of people died and were displaced in the Balkan wars in the 1990s

[@neychev]

Which was a civil war, not a war between two states

[@muratmusics]

@@neychev yes so the Ukrainian war isnt the first major war in Europe since ww2

[@PanoStressed]

@@neychev No it wasn't a civil war. How could you say that? Foreign powers got engaged in the conflict. And newfounded states declared war on each other. Russia and Ukraine where members of the USSR. Is today war a ''civil war''?

[@DutchTDK]

What were the eastern european wars after ww1? Civil or international?

[@RazorMouth]

@@PanoStressed Foreign powers only got involved to stop the genocide and rightly so. I was definitely a civil war by definition you're talking utter nonsense. After that it was only peacekeeping from UN and NATO.

[@DevAnon]

The biggest EU challenge is the unanimity requirement, which is no longer viable with all the new members.

[@ems7623]

At some point a new constitution might be necessary. It should probably both address weakness such the one you mention and some of the major criticisms of Euroskeptics. The best way to get rid of the disruptive euroskeptic parties is, after all, to take away many of their favorite things to criticize. But it's very clear now that the EU is, all-in-all, a force for peace and stability on the continent - but one that must defend itself far better from outside threats such as Russia and it's hybrid warfare tactics. Interestingly, it seems that Russia is better at the cyber warfare and disinformation war than actual militsry combat.

[@siddhantjadhav2793]

Good. Dissent is must in any democratic institution. And the EWW claims to be democratic. It should’ve only been pure economic and defence union instead of increasingly autocratic shrouded in democracy supranational union. In the end individual European countries are unique and sovereign in their own right! If hypocrite EWW continues on this path surely it will disintegrate one day and the bureaucrats in Brussels won’t be able to dictate every move of average Europeans! 🗽🐍

[@siddhantjadhav2793]

@@ems7623 Oh really? Then ig Europeans in NATO must be sent to frontline for heavy combat against Russia if war breaks out between Russia and NATO. Americans and Canadians should not die for your EWW 🇪🇺. Let Europeans fight their own wars. But reality is Europeans are too comfortable now and weak to actually go irl for heavy combat against Russia! 😂

[@alaint]

@@ems7623 The EU doesn't need Russia to be criticised. The EU is not supposed to be a block against Russia like NATO is, it's always sold as a democratic and unifying economic alliance

[@Matti_us_Alpe]

Heah, right, it's the first step to the sovietisation of the EU, where people not elected in a democratic process, far away, decide about the faith of millions.

[@jonesjohnson6301]

It keeps baffling me that we're doing the 1984 thing and pretend that entire wars didn't happen. First wars in Europe since the second world war my arse.

[@okakokakiev787]

It's crazy. Europeans are under the influence of hypno rays from towers

[@_SpamMe]

On balance, the EU is still the greatest achievement in international politics humanity has managed. And, yes, the bar to that is fairly low, but it's still worth acknowledging from time to time. Peacefully uniting so many countries that are so widely different into one reasonably functional international bloc is an outstanding politics achievement that so far has not been replicated and probably won't for a long time.

[@soundscape26]

Good take. 👍

[@alperenbaser7952]

Not at all . They have common enemy Russia and they use other small european states as their satellates. Just like Soviets did to Warsaw pact.

[@WayneNaude670]

the African Union 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@grisflyt]

No, it's putting the bar on the ground. Why would it take a union for a country to be peaceful? Because Europe is a continent of idiots. Being idiots, the elect the most idiotic people as their leaders. Merkel has her issues, but she's the only European leader this century that isn't a complete embarrassment. She's not just the only adult on the continent, she's the man on the continent. The Iraq War was not in Europe's interest. Syria and Libya weren't in Europe's interest. The refugee crisis wasn't in Europe's interest. Ukraine wasn't in Europe's interest. But they were and are in American interest. And because Europeans want nothing more than to be loved by America, they destroyed their own continent to win America's love. Yeah, what a great achievement.

[@ousarlxsfjsbvbg8588]

@@alperenbaser7952 it’s not at all like the Warsaw Pact

[@crml8539]

“Even the British did not want to leave after they realised the consequences”. So much cope here. If the British did not want to leave they wouldn’t have left.

[@hallowedproductions3334]

He is incredibly biased of course. The British did indeed want to leave the EU.

[@madonemt]

I am pro European but swung slightly towards leaving for various reasons. Even more convinced now but live in hope for a pro European Europe.

[@CharlieVane21]

It's nonsense. No major UK political party is prepared to say they want to rejoin the EU(even though Labour secretly do) for fear of electoral annihilation. Labour even came out this week with a policy to NOT reenter the Single Market or allow free movement of people. That's remarkable in itself as Labour don't really do policy. 😅

[@ByNextus]

@@CharlieVane21 Well, Scottish National Party aka SNP is still keen on leaving the UK and rejoining EU. They are not everyone.

[@ahab9712]

@@ByNextus That's impossible, since holding an illegal refurendum would deem them illegible for eu membership.

[@pollutingpenguin2146]

The biggest issue facing the EU is the population implosion. We need to find a way to encourage families to have kids. Eastern, southern and Central Europe are about to have their populations halved in size which is going to put tremendous strains on their economies and services.

[@xeon5065]

Looks like the white population in Europe is low 🤣

[@soundscape26]

Yes, there are currently low fertility rates in many EU countries, but "about to have their populations halved in size" is pushing it.

[@Player-400]

That shows that something with todays european education, law and society is wrong....i hope we dont end up like the japanese

[@pollutingpenguin2146]

@@soundscape26 look up the numbers - eastern and Central Europe are going to halve in size. Southern Europe is going drastically drown - Italy by a third, same for Spain and for Portugal and Greece it’s going to be nearly halved.

[@ajx9747]

We can take 5 million Africans annually to boost population growth

[@trancemadmaz]

1:10 Correction. West Germany was a founding member not Germany as a whole

[@BloodySabbath84]

Well East Germany itself didn't join but was absorbed by West Germany

[@ttvrs1059]

Some mistakes I caught: Denmark was 1st missing from the EU, then, I do believe Ukraine is now also an official applicant country seeking EU-membership, some countries highlighted in the Eurozone aren't actually in it (Sweden, Denmark, the UK never was).

[@raptor2.056]

As well as moldova

[@d1namis]

Ukraine never had a chance to join EU, and now there chances are even lower. But they probably will have EFTA. And even if they would join EU, that would be bad for EU probably cuz for "unanimity" reasons. Ukraine is in a national-oriented paradigm, and after war there nationalistic paradigm will grow even stronger. Basically it's a Poland on steroids. Sure thing it's a resource rich country, but that's it. Ukraine is extremely unstable politically, they never had proper democracy that last long without protest or "new orange revolution", "maidan" etc... Nazi cult in Ukraine is also not a fantasy, that central news network keeps a blind eye, it's quite real in Ukraine, there are countless evidence of promoting hatred, huge parades in Kiyv with swastikas and hate spreading slogans. Every single Azov Battalion member have Nazi related tattoo. Amazon even blocked Azov merch from selling in most country's, cuz it's Nazi related image in logo. It's tolerable and sounds funny, like an conspiracy theory, but only before the real world starts to tilt.

[@neilroberts5434]

@@d1namis yes I agree Ukraine would be far too patriotic (right leaning in eu speech) for the eu same as Some other eastern eu states

[@-lorentzen5925]

As a Dane I feel offended. Denmark has been an active member of the EU since 1973 - Before this American yt'er was born

[@albinjohnsson2511]

@@-lorentzen5925 He's Danish himself lmao. Can't you hear his extremely Danish-sounding accent?

[@Sealdrop]

10:20 what an insult to yugoslavs

[@Rezlusiowa]

Guy is danish so I'm not surprised about that and many misleading info in this vid

[@martov4330]

The conflict in Ukraine didn't "plunge Europe into war". Seems a little biased when you simultaneously forget about the Yugoslav war....

[@ramonemiliochaconperdomo7225]

The EU at that times was just a thing born, the Yugoslav war was a NATO matter.

[@martov4330]

@@ramonemiliochaconperdomo7225 Doesn't mean Europe didn't exist ?

[@cheeseburgeroptimus9784]

Lol according to him anything not involving European “unity” is “nostalgic and unrealistic”

[@martov4330]

@@shonenjumpmagneto no it didn't, do you see Spain flying rockets towards Russia? Do you see Portugal sending military ships to fight Russia? Do you see any country other than Ukraine directly participate in the conflict?

[@chinelooliver3936]

It's actually not true that the Brits did not know the consequences before voting for brexit and it is also not true that they wanted to return once they realised the consequences; get your facts right.

[@cmrd_hdcrb]

To be fair, it was VERY close. Thank god for the outcome you got tho. Wish Belgium would do the same.

[@chinelooliver3936]

@@cmrd_hdcrb I'm actually Canadian not British; I don't think that brexit was a good short-term decision although it is possible that it could be a good long-term one. I understand why they did it, (possible long-term payoffs, nationalism, sovereignty and principals ect) I think they should have been more effort put into research into alternatives that would achieve the same goals rather than brexiting.

[@aaademed]

@@chinelooliver3936 I'd completely agree with you if we considered that EU will continue the way it does things and won't evolve into something better. I think the root of most of the EU problems is its convenient status quo and rejection to break it in order to develop. But to my mind the ongoing war will change this aspect and quite probably EU will be much more attractive to the UK than it is now

[@shirleymallett9082]

@@aaademed I doubt it. The EU's attitude towards the UK (both pre and post-Brexit) has guaranteed we will never return. We don't need the EU and are better off without it, but it will take a few years to recover from being in the EU and re-establish our sovereignty.

[@Bill-zp2mt]

In Norway we have to follow 75% of EU laws even if we're not in the EU.

[@smithfinland214]

so what are the biggest issues for Norway to join EU, because if you have to abide 75% of the laws and have no say on making those laws it sounds to me joining would be good. is it only fishing and agriculture or some thing else.

[@Bill-zp2mt]

@@smithfinland214 The laws are everywhere, even the justice system.

[@Bill-zp2mt]

@@smithfinland214 What is the point of having a government and own laws when it's underneath EU laws? The mass murder Bering Breivik(mass murderer) won in a mistreatment case in EU, even though we got the best prison in the world.

[@Chris_H1]

@@smithfinland214 Fishing quotas and people not being open for debate, as must of us are content with the status quo. However the green party are pushing for a new vote since the last one was in 1994 with 52,2% against and 47,8% for.

[@paul1979uk2000]

I think Norway would be better off inside the EU, at least they would have a voice at the table in making these laws, same for Switzerland which have a more complicated relationship with the EU but considering it's location, EU membership would probably benefit them more than it does Norway. Personally, I think Norway will eventually join the EU once the usefulness of oil in the country has far less value.

[@Tomislavr7]

In your map of the EU predecessor, Germany is shown as a whole, which is incorrect. The conflict in Ukraine being the "first war in Europe after WW2" is also far from correct as, even when you disregard civil wars and such for whatever reason, there was also the NATO aggression on SR Yugoslavia. There were a couple more errors, but less significant than these two, which are quite an insult to history.

[@eliza9799]

Exactly the horrors that happen in Yugoslavia, the indpendence of Kosovo and so on. Also even though not at all correct but we can even consider the Cyprus problem

[@callous21]

Why is it that people not consider those?

[@eliza9799]

@@callous21 either the channel hasn't done it's homework or politics

[@schwanzuslongus2538]

00:30 why is there a map without denmark..? Alone this shows how poorly this video was prepared... Denmark is alrdy a member of the eu for decades, and yet the first map of the video shows a eu without denmark. Kind of ridiculous

[@eliza9799]

@@schwanzuslongus2538 hahaha exactly

[@thanasisrks4944]

The first major war in Europe was the invasion of Cyprus (which the CIA supported) and then the Yugoslav wars. Both of which are forgotten. Do don't expect the Balkan and Greek people to stand with the west.

[@Bata989]

"For the first time since the WW2" part is really weird to hear if you live on Balkan... You know that Yugoslavia was and Serbia IS IN Europe, right?

[@casperbacon1423]

Actually people didn't change their mind about EU membership in the uk. We had an election in 2019 and the pro-EU parties got hammered, apart from Scotland.

[@natalias50]

I have family in UK and they would say the same. After EU shambles with vaccinations for Covid-19 and in current climate where Germany, France and Italy are so pro-Russian. British don’t trust EU leaders.

[@_SpamMe]

People vote for more than one concern (or not at all), you know.

[@casperbacon1423]

True but it was pretty much fought on the one issue as far as the parties were concerned, and if the Labour party thought rejoin the EU was such a vote winner they wouldn't have changed their policy to not rejoining and kept it since 2019

[@jamesmarkosborne962]

I'm glad I found this comment. I had to pause and replay it to actually believe my ears to the BS being said lol

[@MrLaughinggrass]

I can't believe this video says this, it is a downright lie

[@Enlighter]

Bit of an anglo-saxon bias. Outside of the UK, few people really thought Brexit would dissolve the EU and to call Brexit the biggest challenge to the EU is i think misguided. I would say the eurocrisis was just as important, and if anything dissolves the EU, it will probably be the different extreme right wing popular parties within multiple EU countries who are extremely eurosceptical.

[@joshualifetree5398]

The EU was a good idea when it was the European Economic - emphasis on Economic - Community not EU.

[@fabioESER]

Economy is fulcral, but there has to be solidarity between countries to build together a better future and not only economical interests. We must expand this solidarity even further to Africa to make sure those countries want to join a free world and not China and Russia visions of the world. ;)

[@joshualifetree5398]

@@fabioESER We can still remain independent and sovereign without a need to push towards a federal state. As regarding Africa I think that Northern African countries should be allowed to join the EU as long as they adhere to its principles and laws now that the EU is here.

[@kerim.s8801]

@@joshualifetree5398 That would take the meaning of the EU if an african country can join it. See Morocco for example. Every EU country should be independent and sovereign. Corruption would way easier in the EU with 27 member states than corruption in 27 states with the same goal.

[@philipjones3599]

Sorry this is nonsense it is NATO who have pulled together here and been making moves not the EU it is just coincidental that many EU states also are also in NATO.

[@Caldermologist]

A Union with a single currency was the plan from the start, in 1957. Getting there by taking many small steps, in stealth-style, was also part of the plan. Brexit was certainly not.

[@ad_astra468]

4:00 It also doesn't help that Turkey is currently occupying a third of another EU country, Cyprus

[@thecomment9489]

And you forgot Syria. Or may be in your imperialist worldview that is fine. And isn't Cyprus in Asia?

[@niekkie555]

@@thecomment9489 Cyprus is in Europa

[@ivanmacgar6447]

@@niekkie555 Cyprus is in Asia from a purely geographical standpoints. It's just off Anatolia's Southern coast, and it's even closer to Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine (Gaza) than it is to Crete, let alone mainland Europe.

[@ad_astra468]

@@thecomment9489 Bruh chill, I was just saying Turkey wants to join the EU while it's occupying a EU country. Cyprus could be in Africa for all I care my point isn't that it's European but that it is a EU member with veto power. Turkey occupying Syria is a tragedy too and I am not supporting it, it just wasn't relevant to the point I was making about occuping a country who can veto their goal so I didn't mention it as my goal wasn't to list the bad things Turkey is doing.

[@JordiVanderwaal]

I don't know if the EU is falling apart, or how long it'll take for it to stop existing. But I do know that since the war I feel more European than I've felt in years, and for the first time I feel like the European institutions are doing *something* .

[@lacdirk]

I think that the EU may be superseded by other organisations, but the concept of single market + custom union + shared currency is simply too powerful to go away. There are several other regional projects that are working along these lines now.

[@radamirabdulle3559]

Doing what exactly? They havent sanctioned THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT where it hurts at all which is their energy sector so Europe is still funding russia's war. They still are not united in their response with some countires sympathetic towards russia and some want to stay neutral. European union is a joke the sooner it goes the better for all

[@lacdirk]

@@radamirabdulle3559 If there was no EU, there would be no one to sanction Russia at all, so your call for its demise makes zero sense. The EU has implemented several packages of ever-increasing sanctions on Russia.

[@pavelow235]

Interesting take, considering Germany is inadvertently financially supporting Putins side of the War.

[@theteamxxx3142]

@@pavelow235 for counties with no nuclear like Germany or Italy It’s impossible to get rid of coal oil and gas 100% instantly . It has to be a gradual process otherwise it would hurt the economy immensely. Italy for example has already found new oil partners and gradually it will stop to import oil from Russia

[@georgestefanopoulos3963]

Not a mention about the German and French banks’ bailout. A fact that is also connected to the Greek bailout (money used to save the banks in the first place, not the country)

[@janhribljan4100]

How is Ukraine the first war in Europe since ww2? Did you not hear about the Yugoslav wars?

[@Moses_VII]

I think he means the biggest war.

[@rodjones117]

@@Moses_VII EU fucked up in Jugoslavia and NATO had to come in and solve it.

[@smithfinland214]

True but Yugoslav wars weren't seen as great threat to European or world security, Russian invasion is seen as continent wide threath.

[@natalias50]

@@smithfinland214 true.

[@natalias50]

I suppose the reason for it is that in Russian opinion they fight with the USA. Also by orchestrating hunger (Russian soldiers are planting mines at farm-fields and by blocking ports in Ukraine they disturb the supply chains for wheat, corn and sunflower to Middle East and Africa) they are about to create massive migration wave that will head towards Europe.

[@Michael-rz4ny]

I'm tired of watching news regarding the future of the EU, they have been saying that the EU will cease to exist since the 2008 crisis, refugee crisis of 2015, Brexit etc. It's always the same yet it still exists and it is more united than ever.

[@zsoltpapp3363]

Is it united more than ever? What???

[@Michael-rz4ny]

@Цигано_убиеца_gypsy_killer Not sure if the poorest state in the Union can afford that

[@giavk3607]

No now we are more worlds apart than ever and hate each other more!!! Especially Germany

[@Pragmatic_Optimist_MCR]

Trueee, why is there so much scepticism? When looking on the European project in terms of decades there is undeniably a continuous increase of integration and dependency. The EU will exist for a long time. Just like the stock market, there are bums on the way and short-term downfalls, but on the long term it's going up and up and up. Which is great, because the more we integrate in Europe, the more countries develop stable democracies through the political requirements of the EU and quality of life is improved economically through the single market.

[@profiliskolai3272]

"For the first time since second world war" Everyone forgets about yugoslavia on purpose. Just because russia is a global superpower that doesn't make other wars less of a war when people are still dying.

[@Denyo666]

People think "NATO" are good and call starting a war a "intervention" when Russia does it they are bad and call it "invasion"

[@eqramer]

Yugoslavia was a cause of civil war, not a war of independent states.

[@oxymoron500]

I believe in the EU, even though it has its flaws. Together we can be a global superpower that is independent from the USA and China and stands strong as a symbol of peace and human rights!

[@aadisingh9146]

'independent from usa, lol 😂. usa has more control over eu than eu itself.

[@emazio4122]

@@aadisingh9146 Tell me a country US doesn't have control? Even on China US has a lot of control. But US hegemony has to end

[@simplifiedsam]

This is the best take about the EU I see so far, I believe in a democratic European superpower too 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

[@zedero8]

In varietate concordia 🇪🇺

[@ajx9747]

EU is vassal state of America

[@EliasSchantz]

Yesterday I had my Abitur Exam, which is like the highest high school degree in Germany, about exactly this specific topic. This video perfectly sums up everything I had to know/ talk about, if it had only been uploaded the day before it would have spared me my entire preparation

[@meterboy.]

Du tust mir grad so leid 😂

[@phantafan7965]

Also got through my oral exam yesterday. Which subject was it though?

[@EliasSchantz]

@@phantafan7965 it was in a politics/ social studies class about the contents of both the last 2 years and i had chosen this topic as the one wich i had to give a presentation about aswell as answering questions about topics out of 2 other semesters

[@EliasSchantz]

@@meterboy. Danke du haha😂

[@Charlie-jp6mx]

Bruh er hat in seinem Vid Dänemark nicht als EU Mitglied markiert... Viel Glück beim Abitur

[@sugababes150]

Accepting Turkey would be the biggest mistake EU could do...

[@jamese5936]

Without a doubt it would. Without Turkey even being in the EU it is so painfully clear that Turkey just doesn't see life in the same way therefor it makes zero sense to have them. It's bad enough having them in NATO.

[@e.v3832]

Turkey's european union project is already dead after 2008 crisis, now both eu and turkey use so called eu membership negation talks as a tool in order to keep each other on check(turkey needs some money and investments from eu, while eu has some orders to turkey about refugees etc) ,so no need to worry about that

[@ioannismetaxas434]

The Loan to the IMF from Greece have been fully paid, and Greece is done with the Bailout Loans, it has other loans but is done with both the bailout and IMF ones

[@TheSamuiman]

Fact, while in the process Greece and the Greek citizens have lost many feathers! France faces an all time high of 2834.30 EUR Billion in the third quarter of 2021 in debt, why is nobody ringing the alarm bells I wonder!

[@theofilosdimas6677]

@@TheSamuiman I am no expert but I think that the problem is the comparison between debt and gdp. Greece owes 2-3 it's gdp which is huge. A little debt isn't a big deal it's even a good thing if you look it up.

[@shawnjavery]

@@TheSamuiman its because its not the Mediterraneans in trouble.

[@corpclarke]

There are a few surprising conclusions in this video. First, the EFTA member states were also designated as future EU members (EFTA was seen as a stepping stone to full membership). However, the issue of joining is no longer discussed in these countries because there is a majority against joining the EU in all these countries now. You also didn't mention how Switzerland has recently significantly loosened its arrangements with the EU. There is a mini Swixit happening right now. It's worth pointing out, only countries that are poorer than the EU average want to join. That's not good for its long term health. Greenland left the European Community in the 1970s. That was before it was formally called the EU but worth mentioning for context when you say nobody else has ever left except UK. You talk about member states becoming less democratic but don't mention the democratic deficit in the EU itself. No mention that the EU has five presidents, none of whom are elected by EU citizens. No mention of the unelected executive of the EU, the EU Commission. Also no mention of the various referenda results the EU has simply ignored, not least around the Lisbon Treaty. This would've been good for some context. As for the reaction to the Ukraine war increasing the EU Unity, this is an astonishing take. What world are you living in? There have been EU states who have acted quickly in combination with non-EU states (thinking in particular, Poland, Czech, Estonia, UK and USA) but the general EU response as been tiny. Baltic and Central European countries have been furious with Western EU countries response. The EU states that have responded well have done so by ignoring the EU. Another side point, nice to see someone admit that Turkey IS a contender state. During the UK referendum the Remain campaign accused the Leave campaign of making that up.

[@jonathanwor]

Greenland hadn't really joined the EC if I remember correctly. They left when Denmark joined. Democratic deficits are indeed a problem inside the EU, but take time to solve with electorates that are used to vote nationally. Popular legitimacy is now derived more indirectly, namely through the national and EU parliaments. No democratic nation is free from democratic deficits however. Glaring examples can also be found in the US (with the electoral college & gerrymandering) and the UK. (also district based and hardly representative with FPTP) Referenda are no requirement for legitimacy in indirect democracies. The instances you mentioned (the French and Dutch rejection of the Lisbon treaty) pertained consultory referenda. The treaty ratification was paused as a consequence but they basically agreed to the same treaty later on. This wasn't a great moment, but it wasn't illegitimate either. With some exceptions I don't think referenda are necessarily a representative expression of the will of the people.. The Dutch rejection of the Lisbon treaty was basically an opinion poll on the failed pro government campaign and a technocratic document people didn't really have the time for to familiarise themselves with. EU disagreements are a given. Departing from that situation it's rather surprising what they were able to agree on. Seeing the larger stake the EU has in economic relations with Russia, I wouldn't call their response tiny. It also means they're able to hurt Russia more economically than the US or the UK ever were. The EU commission has been pushing the sanctions hard, but it's rather been some member states that have been holding back that agenda. I don't believe anyone has denied that Turkey was a candidate member, however support for their accession has always been tenuous, something BoJo conveniently left out during his referendum campaign. (in fact, historically the UK has been one of the proponents of Turkey's accession.)

[@corpclarke]

@@jonathanwor Greenland joined the EC as part of the Kingdom of Denmark and were in it 12 years. I think you're mistaking them for the Faroe Islands, also part of Kingdom of Denmark who I believe never joined. No democracy is perfect, but a state which has a fundamentally unelected executive is not democratic at all. I would argue FPTP is the most democratic system there is but that's beside the point. For a system to be regarded as democratic you must be able to elect the executive. EU citizens do not have that right. There is not even a contest for the executive. Saying things like indirectly representative or indirectly democratic is just playing with words. Just a way of trying to justify an undemocratic system. You could argue the Vatican City is indirectly democratic but no reasonable personal believes it is in any way democratic. Those words mean nothing. Just admit it's technocratic not democratic. Yes the referenda were advisory. But how the EU responds to advisory referenda reveals their attitude to their citizens views. If it was binding they simply wouldn't have a choice. Come on, think about it. Only a non binding referenda shows the EU attitude to their citizens' votes. The stuff about the EU not being united. You seem to be agreeing with me, but somehow claiming that the limited sanctions they've achieved are a success. I mean, it's becoming clearer every day they're not. And EU and Ukrainian citizens know this according to the polling I cited. Some EU nations in the East with the closest ties to Russia have made the most sacrifices without waiting for the EU. Again you're just making excuses for fundamentally poor performance. During the EU campaign the Leave Campaign stated that Turkey would soon join the EU. They showed a map on one of their leaflets. I know this. I held it in my hand. The Remain campaign and a lot of mainstream media insisted it was false news.

[@TheFattestLInHistory]

@@corpclarke I would have to agree with you

[@Aleksa208]

You do realize that there was a war in the Balkans in the 90's? Even NATO itself participated in it by bombing Serbia and supporting UCK terrorists. So no, the Ukraine conflict is NOT the first war in Europe since WW2.

[@alx9889]

Western, northern europeans and americans dont care because it didnt touch them plus the media said that UK and USA had 'peaceful operation' in Yugoslavia. That's why a lot of people still think that NATO is a good defensive alliance even tho NATO bombed Belgrade and even today there is a high amount of people with cancer in Serbia due to NATO bombs having some chemicals in them.

[@leonardgoduni8124]

What's your definition of the word terrorist to you?!😡

[@charlesjakesamadan4008]

@@leonardgoduni8124 who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.

[@leonardgoduni8124]

@@charlesjakesamadan4008 and that's exactly what happened there, except the other way around!🤔

[@charlesjakesamadan4008]

@@leonardgoduni8124 they are terrorists.

[@MasthaX]

The only thing Brexit brought me as a European citizen is more bureaucracy and extra customs fees to the UK.

[@paulohagan3309]

But-but Sovereignty! Bendy bananas! Blue passports! [made in France]

[@UkSapyy]

The only thing Brexit has brought me as a British citizenship is more bureaucracy and fees leaving the UK. But atleast we have less bureaucracy internally now. The EU could have prevented Brexit but it never did. A small change to EU policy would likely have saw the 49/51 vote flip in EU favour. The UK was set to be the second richest EU nation overtaking France by 2022. So really the UK is ok alone or within the EU. No one lost or won because the two have influence. I voted remain but honestly now I see how little UK membership actually ment to the EU / Europe.

[@ivanmacgar6447]

Yes, because the world revolves around such God-forsaken island to the North of the Channel...

[@appleusher]

@@ivanmacgar6447 Nope you're not right as their mindset is still stuck in 16-th of century. So they still think they're rule the world :D

[@shawnjavery]

@@UkSapyy at the end of the day, the economic project of the EU is a dumpster fire. Long term I think the UK is better off outside it, but time will tell. I don't expect the EU to last 20 more years anyways.

[@josephmurphy6519]

"Even the UK citizens didn't want to leave after they found out what the consequences were going to be " - that's categorically untrue. The people wanted out but the politicians were too weak.

[@blag6666]

The future for Europa is not bright. That is the tendency.

[@TheWhitesb2006]

It's always fun to watch these videos to see how blinkered the authors view really is.

[@janvisser4132]

11:36, we in the Netherlands are not more dependend on Russian oil then any other country. We handle a lot of it because we have the largest port of Europe, but we didn't specifically ask for a delay on the ban on russian oil like some eastern European countries. Also, the reason ships still come in is because they are not registered in Russia. The Netherlands has a big natural gas reserve they couldn't use for political reasons, so we are actually much less dependend on Russia for our energy needs.

[@tomasedaniel]

I didnt know that, thanks for sharing. One thing, when making a comparison you should use than and not then, i know they sound a like but do not mean the same

[@janvisser4132]

@@tomasedaniel thx, I mess that up sometimes.

[@PanoStressed]

You in the Netherlands should focus on being more decent as a society and as people. You are literally the champions of inequality and tend to have scam tax policies in order to drain big companies from the other member states.

[@natalias50]

I think you meant Germany, France, Austria, Italy and Hungary- they are very much pro-Russian and want to buy gas and oil and don’t mind paying for it with Russian Ruble. Eastern Europe is the most exposed for Russian aggression (thanks to German-Russian project called Nord Stream I and II)- they want to sanction Russia, also they provide the most help for Ukraine after USA.

[@janvisser4132]

@@natalias50 It's not that much of a attitude problem, but more a practical problem. Countries like France, Austria and Italy can easily get their oil somewhere else. I was mainly talking about Bulgaria, who asked for a 2 year delay on the oil ban. Not because they like Russia, but because they need oil and can't easily get it anywhere else. There is no pro-russian country left in Europe, except for Serbia and maybe Hungary. Turkey is doubtful, they had good ties with both countries and are in a hard place. I understand that it is hard to explain to your voters that they can't cook, have heating or warm water because the of the lack of Russian gas. It is a very difficult situation. We are very dependend on Russian natural resources. Very unfortunate that most of the natural resources in this world are held by very questionable regimes. We should give Ukraine as much weapons and money as they need tho, we need to help them as much as we can.

[@Bill-zp2mt]

50% of all Tech startups in EU goes to the USA.

[@blancavelasquez9859]

too much regulation as well as some cultural factors

[@Felixdeaap]

Okay name your sources

[@RazorMouth]

@@Felixdeaap Of course he won't name sources because he pulled 50% out of his arse and posted it.

[@Felixdeaap]

@@RazorMouth yeah I already expected that xD

[@lozoft9]

@@RazorMouth He's right but he misquoted: it's 50% of EU *TECH* startups, not startups as a whole.

[@Leutzer]

You made a rather large oversight at @10:26, this was NOT the first time since the Second World War that Europe has been plunged into war, the Yugoslav war was a very significant one, arguments can also be made for Georgia 2008, Chechnya etc. I can understand if you haven't read up on recent geopolitical events in Europe, but I genuinely thought that the Balkan war was a quite famous one.

[@AdamSinnott]

I would like to see more neutrality in a similar manner to how TLDR achieves it

[@ginojaco]

🤣

[@uweinhamburg]

👍

[@ikipemiko]

:) :) TLDR are big amateurs and do not produce value.

[@ginojaco]

@@ikipemiko and that's true even though it's free! 🤣

[@nirmalkumarsharma95]

"First time since second world war Europe is plunged into a war", I guess two Yugoslavian wars cannot be counted since it is American using depleted Uranium will not come under scrutiny by EU countries.

[@pontikofarmako3634]

i think you forget the Cyprus invasion, the yugoslav wars

[@philipjones3599]

British here happy with the result of Brexit. A few little visa issues that will likely end soon no more EU court jurisdiction. Happy with the result.

[@philipjones3599]

@@shonenjumpmagneto video states even the citizens of the U.K did not want to leave when they found out what it meant. This is a sweeping generalisation that doesn't represent me and others given the likes. Of course there will be those that still don't like it I had no doubt of that it was always going to be the case. But after 10 or 15 years it will likely be forgotten.

[@TriAmphontsApple]

@@philipjones3599 if i could vote for it a second time i would, just to soak in more tears.

[@AboveAno]

There are multiple inconsistencies in the video as the many comments explain. The bloc had, has and will have many challenges to go through, and it's to be expected considering the scale of the project, but I hardly view it as an imminent dissolution or what have you. The future has always been uncertain, and tbh we-ve done quite well considering the chain crises we-ve had thrown at us.

[@cozumel8286]

Or rather "self inflicted"

[@kf8228]

When this started with a British accent, I immediately knew garbage was coming - and yep, Brexit nonsense in the intro.

[@raphlvlogs271]

it is important to remember that the EU was formed for political reasons not based on cultural or ethnic heritages

[@legioxinvicta]

Political and economics

[@giupetr968]

For necessity. After the WWII, european countries were too small and with no influence compared to US and USSR, so they tried to united these weak nations into a bigger centre of power.

[@giupetr968]

And today is even worse. Even the most powerful EU country, Germany, is too small compared to the new asian giants and the US.

[@TheSamuiman]

on economic reasons, starting with the Montanunion of the steel and coal producers!

[@juliane__]

No, the founding f

[@graham1034]

I've always thought the EU was too middle-road to be truly successful long-term without major changes. Either give up more power to the central authority so they can get shit done, or less power so individual members can have more control.

[@1God1Fury]

Full power to central authority is such bad idea as it will destroy countries sovereignty and turning themselves into puppet states (which be basically a USSR type of union)

[@graham1034]

@@1God1Fury or like other federal unions like Australia, US, Canada, etc.

[@FarmerSchinken]

I guess we all will find out. But there is nothing that prevents the EU from evolving into one direction or the other. Or maybe it just maintains it's course and members are joining and leaving as they see fit. I think that neither the US model, where States have so much power they undermine each other in several aspects nor the heavily centralized UK model, where about 75% of the budget is controlled from London (and which features 9 of the 10 poorest regions in northern europe) works better

[@TheFibie007]

@@FarmerSchinken Good points.

[@adrianaloborec2205]

At this point, more centralized power would be counterproductive because tribal feelings and nationalist opposition in many countries is strong and getting stronger with each "Brussels decree", as they call it. I don't support those feelings, btw, but it wouldn't be wise to ignore them either.

[@quirky-smooths]

I'm kinda tired of pessimistic titles of videos about the EU. Every block/country in the world has challenges but we never see titles like "the uncertain future of China/Russia/USA" although all these countries have big and arguably even bigger challenges than the EU. The world and even the Europeans have a false impression that the EU has a weak economy that will certainly keep weakening, that the EU is unable to defend/sustain itself/unite/you name it. Although there are lots of challenges, the overly pessimistic picture that we're creating ourselves does not play in our favor. The EU had, has and will have serious challenges but we tend to focus too much on the negative side rather than on the fact that the EU has successfully proven its resilience many times in the past and will most likely continue to do so. This is probably due to the northern European culture of being modest and most of such channels come from the North. Unfortunately, the world has no idea about the existence of this culture and they just don't get it, thus, a worldwide tendency to believe that Europe is doomed. I personally believe that the EU is still the greatest and one of the most life changing projects in the world's history. No county, continent or block has ever achieved such results as the EU, no project has ever improved so many lives, has given so many economic and political freedoms to such a big community of people with different cultures and backgrounds. I've traveled to almost all countries of the EU and while doing so I've been witnessing time and time again how EU funded or EU designed projects improve lives, give more infrastructure and other benefits to almost any city within its borders. Can we please make a single video about such accomplishments? Does anyone know that the EU has funded the new line 10 of the valencian metro? It was launched exactly a week ago and millions of people will use it every year now. There are so many such achievements that there can be a dedicated channel focusing just on these ;)

[@u.s.navy_pete4111]

You are completely right. It's always doom and gloom if the EU is in the media, but currently it's Russia that is losing a war they started by choice while tanking their economy for generations to come, and China is STILL struggling with covid 2 and a half years later because their vaccines aren't effective. Compared to that, life in the EU is like heaven.

[@zedero8]

Thank you, exactly!

[@leegarnier9396]

Interestingly I've got the opposite. I've got more videos about China's housing crisis than critical ones about Europe. Consider the information bubble each one of us is in.

[@alaint]

But the EU is not a nation-state

[@quirky-smooths]

@@alaint but I've never stated that it was

[@connor5214]

Didn’t mention that Hungary and Poland has taken the most refugees ?

[@ThePantygun]

Hungary no. Poland and Czechia.

[@ems7623]

I think it's a bit of hyperbole to suggest that the EU project has come under question because of crises. Like any political entity, handling crises is what government is for. The only real threat to the EU is the European habit of reverting to ethno-nationalism. You can see it in the Greek response to the Euro crisis. Instead of criticizing their own national government, some Greeks decided to blame foreigners. It's also obvious in Brexit and Hungary and, most recently, France.

[@James-ip8xs]

Brexit was about more than immigration, would have to disagree it was motivated by ethnonationalism. Very easy to cherry pick the smooth brain racists who supported Brexit and to ignore other valid reasons. Britain being in some EU army would be immensely cucked for instance. T

[@orneryokinawan4529]

You just keep telling yourself that lol.

[@Joso997]

It is more of a national vs international institution. Does a corporation based in the USA have above sovereign rights in your own country?

[@zedero8]

@@Joso997 What kind of a comparison is that? Please, educate yourself. The European Union is a Supranational political and economic Union of states, with intergovernmental and federal elements, most ideally categorized as a confederation. Every state has accepted, signed and ratified the treaties that state that Union law is above State law in the matters that the EU has competency in. I don’t know where you’ve drawn that company comparison from.

[@soundscape26]

@@Joso997 That makes zero sense.

[@nescius2]

For the first time since the second world war ...Google Jugoslavia, lol

[@Hazzelnot94]

I think he meant state-on-state war. As wars like those in former Yugoslavia and Ireland are civil wars. Completely different meaning in terms of international meaning. Then there is the Hungarian revolution as well the Prague Spring.

[@villekuronen6242]

@@Hazzelnot94 jugoslavia stopped being civil war moment nato decided to intervene

[@Hazzelnot94]

@@villekuronen6242 Well, not really, NATO only became a party to the civil war, NATO sided with one of the belligerent sides. That's like saying the Finnish Civil War wasn't a civil war because Germany and the Soviets got involved.

[@FalconsEye58094]

The EU is still a young system, it will endure much as is the ultimate test of any country in history, but its already got 70 years of cooperation behind it and it has succeeded in its original purpose which must count for something

[@yurichtube1162]

We know have Brussels, which is annoying

[@houseplant1016]

@@yurichtube1162 Brussels is a hellhole.

[@onesixfour1905]

The EU is dying fam.

[@abdiganiaden]

Yes, thanks to US by providing security

[@onesixfour1905]

@@abdiganiaden i DO not disagree there

[@willx9352]

The EU does not, even yet, have a common policy towards Ukraine - as your talk itself illustrates. Assistance to Ukraine has been on the basis of individual EU nations offering such assistance - with Germany dragging its heels and Hungary totally unwilling to take sides in the conflict (a fact you failed to mention). It is NATO that has been immeasurably strengthened by the Ukraine conflict. The biggest challenge for the EU remains its propensity to regulate everything that moves which ends up killing innovation and stymies long term economic growth. I do not think the EU is likely to fall apart as the smaller states benefit immeasurably from it and Germany benefits from a lower currency rate than it would have if Germany still had the DM. The danger is that the EU stagnates economically, as Japan has, while remaining relatively prosperous.

[@jonathanwor]

I don't think the economic stagnation due to this conflict is limited to the EU, though clearly some of its member states are more economically exposed than say the US. Even if it does lead to recession that in no way has to hinder its growth potential. Japan has had to deal with a shrinking workforce, as does the EU, but they've been allowing more immigration and have the potential to enlarge. The EU didn't really have military competences before this conflict and also in many related policy areas (such as foreign policy) the member states have the last word, however, as NATO was strengthened, so were those military competences in the EU.

[@time.dealer]

I think you missed a few important points: Europe already has an army: The NATO forces, which are currently stationed in eastern Europe - around 10k of them are in my country. The military cooperation between member states is pretty signifficant, to the point even fighter jets are being deployed to protect far away regions of the union. 2. The sanctions you previously said the member states disagreed on have now been accepted by most of the member states, including Germany, which agreed to put an embargo on russian oil and will do the same for russian gas by the end of the year. When you have such a huge dependency it is pretty hard to just stop importing oil and gas.

[@jeremy7372]

Not to mention the EU countries that aren't a part of NATO, like Sweden and Finland

[@starborneolympus3907]

@Speed Junkie EU is a military alliance as well. Declaring war on one is declaring war on all, the same thing as NATO. It is not talked about as much, because EU doesn't have centralized command, since most members are in NATO and having two separate high commands could lead to contradicting orders.

[@siddhantjadhav2793]

Who created that dependency in first place? Your ally sorry my bad, your Daddy USA! By not providing y’all with cheap fuel EWW 🇪🇺 was forced to buy Russian fuel, so y’all indirectly funded Putin to invade Ukraine!

[@rybarm4460]

@Speed Junkie Exactly.

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

@Speed Junkie I would agree with that assessment, but I’d much rather have a strong Europe in a US-led alliance than the US as a non-ally. Yes, they are not a great ally, but for the time being better than the alternative. Eventually Europe and the US being equals in a common security policy would however be great.

[@OrlandMapper]

National independence located in nostalgia rather than reality? I wonder what nostalgia are we talking about with V4 countries - you know, countries which spend 41 years as Soviet satellite states?

[@lelagrangeeffectphysics4120]

Read: Champaigne Socialist rhetoric meant to slander anything that isn't itself

[@BlueTigerTheLion]

The time before that occupation?

[@vladsikorsky7931]

Because being colonised by yet another diffrently named empire is a bad thing, don't you know.

[@OrlandMapper]

@@BlueTigerTheLion Before communism, we were occupied by nazi germany. Our only real independence was 1918-1938.

[@DutchTDK]

The between the wars era. (Few years after ww1 though)

[@konstantinos4395]

The awkward moment that you realize the person that talks knows absolutely nothing about the issue.... 😅

[@beastyms]

There were other wars in Europe after WW2 and before current Ukrain-Russian war.

[@markelgomezromo635]

Yugoslavia especially

[@heidirabenau511]

And the USSR and Warsaw pact falling apart

[@Nothing_to_write0]

@@markelgomezromo635Also Invasion of Chechnya and Georgia by Russia

[@_o..o_1871]

10:21 You forgot the war in Yugoslavia

[@startobyman]

As interesting as this video is to watch it is hard to ignore the bias of the creator. Good video regardless!

[@JoJo-xb7do]

Great report but I'm afraid you are not right about the British people changing their mind and regretting Brexit. This did not change much after all the complications were fully discussed openly. Polls show a sway of maximum 10 percent, which would put the referendum into remain but still it not that different to the already close 50 50 like the initial vote. It is a contentious issue, sad result to me someone who wanted to remain.

[@windwaker8985]

I think also it was so traumatic that people just want to be over with it (2 years of political paralysis and Scotland and N Ireland wanting to leave the union)

[@fb150185]

IMO the EU needs to work on strengthening links between current countries rather than continue to integrate new countries.

[@u.s.navy_pete4111]

Yes. Or maybe let Albania and North Macedonia join. Turkey is whole other story though. They continue to elect the authoritarian Erdogan. Turkey is a very populous country that would be very powerful in the EU's democratic institutions but their democracy is fragile.

[@vishwanathasharma1409]

@@u.s.navy_pete4111 yeah Turkey would bring in all middle eastern politics into eu and the fact turkey has good relations with both Russia and China (to a lesser degree) would make eu more divided within itself

[@NuSpirit_]

And listen when people criticize it. Not all critique is bad or baseless - it can help you improve and prevent things like Brexit.

[@Man-of-Steel674]

Agree.

[@peetsnort]

One correction. The brexiteer are happy to leave. The BBC and the eu fought tooth and nail to keep the uk. WE still have yet to leave properly as the flights to Rwanda have proved with strasbourg intervention

[@yiannispalamas1307]

not including Denmark in EU is not your only mistake.. you did the same with Cyprus.

[@nickcalderbank6910]

I feel like you didn't actually say what will happen to the European Union.

[@SwieczkaNiweaniewierzeDarek]

You'd have to be clairvoyant to say what will happen to it.

[@nickcalderbank6910]

@@SwieczkaNiweaniewierzeDarek Hey it's no longer an issue he's changed the name of the video. DEMOCRACY WORKS PEOPLE!!!

[@donkeypoison]

10:21 _"For the first time since the second world war Europe was plunged into war."_ Uh, _no!_ 1999 was the 1st time when NATO non-legalizedly bombed Yugoslavia into stone age killing thousand of inocent civilians, and _"inadvertently"_ bombed the Chinese embassy. They self-legalized it with lies about a non-existent or, at least, irrelevant humanitarian crisis, but the real reasons where geopolitical. - - Considering the romantic EU unity depicted at the end, there remains the question, *Why The EU's Future Is Surprisingly Uncertain.* You missed the point.

[@Denyo666]

I agree, I was also waiting for an answer and then he talked nonsense bullshit about Ukraine.

[@jectanidesmith1573]

Hey man, great vid! Just a question, what software do u use for the maps n shit ?

[@paxtoncargill4661]

Europe has always had some sort of superstate structure, weather that be the church, the holy Roman empire, the Austrian empire.

[@Titan_640]

Not really if you look at other civilisation like India, the Middle East and China since the fall of Rome have always been more centralised then Europe

[@paxtoncargill4661]

@@Titan_640 yes, that's why I said superstate on not state.

[@annoloki]

People in the UK didn't change their minds once they found out what leaving would mean. Okay, sure, some certainly would have done, while others changed their mind in the other direction, but mostly, it was people who voted to remain who were saying that the people who voted to leave didn't know what they were voting for. The forces that pushed for the referendum are still very happy with the results. Just people living in bubbles making ignorant assumptions about other people living in completely different bubbles. The EU got too big. I think that's Macron's main issue. It's pointless making it too big, too different, you just paralyse it. The more voices added, the less agreement there is going to be, the less it can get done. Seems to make more sense to have a larger trade and free movement zone, with smaller zones of political union, to keep the thing dynamic.

[@tritetto-nostop8770]

I agree with the fact that a smaller EU would be more effective, nowadays a reform is on the way to change some of its mechanisms which are thought around a smaller union and now are just obsolete. Yet I disagree with the brexit part, it wasn't the "remainers" who depict the British as unsure about it, the result was very close and for the following weeks the main searches on Google and other platforms was "what is the EU" "can we vote again for brexit", this and the embarrassing management of the post vote negotiations by the British government has been enough for the majority of the brits to be aware it was a campaign mostly fueled by lies, Russian bots and Facebook analytic are nowadays proven to have influenced the results, lastly they are overall fed up with it and if possible they would overturn the results of 2016. I have been following the topic for years and it's very relevant to me that the population is actually more in favor of the EU than what is represented by the media and the politicians.

[@babz5251]

I thought it was a 50/50 decision because a lot of younger people did not want to leave the EU

[@pritapp788]

Ironically while it was inside the EU, the UK was in favour of extending it ever further... which would cause the Union's decision-taking to be further complex and dilute its powers. France has largely been against adding new members for this very reason.

[@edwardyu4536]

If talking about founders of European Communities, is it better if we use West Germany instead of unified Germany?

[@DaniG.German883]

The bias is strong with this one

[@belbaka8711]

Simply put: The European union has requirements: Some simple to note: - No death penalty, - Respect human rights, - A current/or planning to grow infrastructure etc...

[@AverageUsernames]

Some of these are hypocritical.

[@jynx3978]

The First 2 don't mean s...t in human society

[@captaingreek]

EU and Eurozone isn't the same. EU would never discuss the exit of Greece from EU, for geopolitical reasons.

[@nieink]

There is no"free" trade in the EU. Otherwise you could get french insurance in germany or phone payment from greece while being in sweden. There is free trade for cooperations. Not for normal citizens

[@windwaker8985]

There is free trade in goods :) a United market for services has been blocked by the rich countries, who fear losing business to the other members

[@vlt96]

If you're insured in an EU country, you can actually use it in another EU country (with a lot of small print). Also, you can use roaming in the EU at some almost-national prices. Data still has some restrictions, but voice and text is pretty much unlimited. The free trading zones applies to people, too. Coming from Romania, even though we're not in Schengen, we're still free to just go to any other EU/EFTA country with just our ID and just exist there like it was our home country. There's also a lot of small print for stuff like pension plans, too. If you're 40-50 for example, and want to move to another EU country, you are not restricted by the fact that you'll end up without a pension in either country. You can choose were you want to retire.

[@niveZz]

From reading the comments I can tell I can't take this video too seriously

[@yhnell18]

6:25 “even the UK citizens didn’t want to leave after they found out what the consequences were going to be” Misleading. You cannot make baseless revisionist statements like this. There was no second referendum, so no solid evidence for your claim. The UK voted for Boris in 2019 in an election that was as close to a single issue election possible. This after May’s reign of soft Brexit plans, Boris set out a harder line and was elected.

[@hallowedproductions3334]

he is incredibly biased and loves the EU.

[@u.s.navy_pete4111]

Well done video! The EU, or something quite similar, will be needed in the future if European citizens want to continue to live on a free, wealthy and peaceful continent. At 0:41: "But, despite [the EU's] strength, Europe has been hit by crisis after crisis raising major questions about the project's very survival." People who argue like this got it totally backwards: The EU was BORN IN CRISIS. The fact that Europe has been a war torn continent for millennia, culminating in WWII, clearly shows this. Recurring crises are a major justification for the continued existence of the EU. Does anybody seriously believe there won't be migrants coming to Europe if the EU didn't exist? Does anybody believe Russia wouldn't have invaded Ukraine? Lmao. Such simple minds...

[@Zimionz]

Yes the EU, or its precursors, were born in crisis. And in the past, any new major crisis sparked reform and integration - but not anymore. It would be difficult to point to any major reform that resulted from crises in the past 15 years. The financial and debt crisis, refugee crisis, Brexit, democratic crisis, corona crisis.. it seems every one of them left the EU weaker and more divided than before. The Ukraine war may have painted over the cracks and unified Europe in its response, but this is only temporary. The EU is still gridlocked with several eastern members dismissing a recent French proposal for reforming the treaty in regards to voting rights and admission of new members, before they even had a chance to explain in detail what they had in mind. The EU has entered a period of stagnation, politically and economically, and nobody seems to have a solution on how to get out of it.

[@u.s.navy_pete4111]

@@Zimionz But the corona crisis left the EU more united, not less. The Pfizer vaccine was developed by BioNTech in Germany (and produced all over the EU like in Belgium and Italy), and joint procurement of vaccines meant that EU citizens could lift lockdowns earlier than many others. Just look at China now!

[@zedero8]

@@Zimionz Every crisis left the EU weaker? I don’t know about that dude. The financial crisis resulted in the creation of mechanisms to support member states. The migrant crisis led to a rethinking of the Dublin and if anything showed us that we should not have such a big open border policy. Brexit has resulted in a troublemaker that was resistant towards more integration to leave and it destroyed any other wishes of -exits in the other states of the Union. Covid has resulted in the EU taking common debt and alleviating deficit and debt rules, along a massive 2 trillion package for Green energy, Digitalization and overall development. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made us more united, pushed us to achieve more decisively our green energy ambitions, it put an end to Russian dependency, we are re-arming and talks, laws and plans about common defense have already started. Indeed, it would be better if the eastern states realized what’s truly at stake. It’s not time to stop any reforms that could bring positive changes, like more direct democracy and the abolition of vetos.

[@Zimionz]

@@zedero8 The financial crisis and subsequent budget oversight imposed on some countries lead to a severe backlash among the populations. Relations between Germany and southern European member states cooled down significantly. Cooperation has become less likely. The migrant crisis lead to a deep east/west divide and mutual distrust, where the east didn't want to accept even a single refugee, and the south and west were left to deal with migrant waves on their own. It also lead to Poland and Hungary moving towards a more illiberal, authoritarian rule. Hardly something that is going to increase EU cohesion. Brexit got rid of a "troublemaker", but it didn't lead to further and faster EU integration, as many have predicted. In fact, others have assumed the role after the UK left. Brexit wasn't used to make the EU more democratic and increase citizen participation either. Covid, particularly during the first phase, has lead to hate and distrust among members. The common debt may very well be a one-time thing, a response to a crisis that is unlikely to be repeated. And if that's the case it won't contribute to EU integration. What these crises all have in common is that they lead to more distrust, envy and suspicion among EU members. As I have mentioned, the outright rejection of any form of treaty change by many eastern and central European states in the middle of what shoud be a unifying event (the Russian attack on Ukraine) shows that the European project is at an impasse, and is unlikely to make any significant steps towards further integration in the near future.

[@Karim94222]

At least no economic refugees

[@emilmarcel913]

Greenland was also part of EU, but opted out again

[@aleccino]

Amazing how many mistakes have been picked up by commenters. This is the third video from this channel I've seen with a similar comment section. Perhaps more planning is needed to properly structure and verify your information.

[@LolSumor]

0:12 Small coloring error, Kaliningard is Russian, not Brittish Territory

[@E4439Qv5]

Ah, he used red for Russia _and_ Britain in that moment. Hilarious to see them momentarily aligned again.

[@thedrunkenrebel]

there was this finn called Kekkonen who designed the european pacifism in the EU. Russia basically tore that to shreds and if we were to ever be at proper peace again, we're in dire need of another Kekkonen to do decades of foreign policy and accords back from scratch

[@polishscribe674]

The problem of EU is that it puts it's nose into not it's businesses.

[@willmorrell]

"Even the UK citizens didn't want to leave after they found out what the consequences were going to be." This statement is a crude assumption, if anything it goes against the 2019 general election which was a landslide in favor of a pro brexit party.

[@emeraldcelestial1058]

That election was a complex one, I think everyone just wanted to get it over with and shoot their collective foot off. Never underestimate the British mindset to do the worst thing if it means just getting on with it all.

[@noIMspartacus2]

And how is that working out for you now with Bozo?

[@shirleymallett9082]

@@noIMspartacus2 We have crap politicians, too many non-democrats trying to damage the UK thinking it will force us back into the EU, and the rest are too accustomed to taking orders from the EU for decades instead of thinking for themselves and putting the UK first. We will sort them out, eventually. We will not be going back into the EU, not while democracy exists.

[@noIMspartacus2]

@@shirleymallett9082 LOL... what the smeg are you smoking and not sharing?!?! You call the parasitic, criminally insane corruption of Bozo and the gang in the so-called "united" king-CONNED-om "democracy"?!?!

[@pehash]

This video just goes to show you how many squables there were before the Ukraine war and how fast EU has responded and how it helped it unite after it started. Its like they all remembered whats really important and why the good european life must not be taken for granted.

[@jackwhitehead5233]

😂😂😂

[@zsoltpapp3363]

Ukraine hase nothing to do with Europe, it was a corrupt shithole country ever since it exists, western europeans didnt even know where it is before this conflict

[@michaelstrantzalis]

Well you seem to forget that Ukraine is not the first time since WWII that war started in Europe, unless you deliberately forget Kosovo and Cyprus...

[@furn6341]

And Lebanon

[@michaelstrantzalis]

@@furn6341 sure but Lebanon is not in Europe...

[@furn6341]

@@michaelstrantzalis Lol but Lebanon is in Europe...

[@michaelstrantzalis]

@@furn6341 I'm sorry but it's not. It's in Asia

[@furn6341]

@@michaelstrantzalis Loool it absolutely isn’t. If it is then Cyprus is in Asia. And what is called “Europe” is all in Asia so France, Germany, Netherlands etc. are in Asia, they’re connected all the way to Mongolia and China

[@guyvert49]

the EU did not come into existence in the 50's or even 60's. It only became the EU in the 90's. UK voted for a common market, like EFTA of which it was a member, not political unon, which is why it is no longer a member of the EU now. The EU is a political endeavour, not an economic reality. The EU's founding members were those in the club in 1995, not the original 6 ECC members. The fall of the Soviet Union led to a further enlargement. Also, you depict today's Germany on the map. The BRD was much smaller & the DDR was outside the block, which is why Germany is now a disproportionately large force within the EU. BTW the EU has not prevented wars in Europe - NATO led by USA has. You should also mention the fact that UK, Baltic States, Poland & Romania are in closer cooperation now, because of the EU's pacifist & appeasement policies. These countries are also candidates for succession into another block based on EFTA, perhaps also including Ukraine. Which countries are the most supportive of Ukraine in Europe? Your rose-coloured glasses are somewhat steamed up.

[@NotShowingOff]

The thing that makes the EU difficult to maintain are: 1. Lack of debt consolidation between member nations. It looks like certain member states have the authority to lend money and others don’t. The differences create vast inequalities. 2. The inclusion of more member states simply increases the purchasing power of the euro within the EU region. Which is why Germany wants more members to come in. 3. Destabilizes smaller countries because it depopulates them.

[@Longknife]

"Faced with Brexit, many wondered if the EU could survive." ...They did?! If anything, it's a question of how well the UK can handle it's newfound status as a foreign state amidst a continent largely controlled by a foreign entity.

[@zedero8]

Who’s that foreign entity you’re referring to?

[@firdaus99031]

@@zedero8 united states, what else?

[@askeladd60]

Once the next sovereign debt crisis in Europe explodes the British will be thanking their lucky stars for not being liable for the sovereign debt from Mediterranean countries and being part of the ensuing sh1t show

[@sirjohnmandeville7488]

Maybe Being the fifth largest economy in the world will help?

[@zedero8]

@@sirjohnmandeville7488 those ranks don’t mean much when you see the difference with the countries above you.