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Eastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly Low context culture and even volatile, as there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region".[1] A related UN paper adds that "every assessment of spatial identities is essentially a social and cultural construct".[2]
One prevailing definition describes Eastern Europe as a cultural (and econo-cultural) entity: the region lying between Central Europe and Western Asia, with main characteristics consisting in Byzantine, Orthodox and limited Ottoman influences.[2][3] Western advocates of this view include the OECD, the World Bank,[4] and US VP Joe Biden.[5]
Another definition, considered outdated by an increasing number of authors,[6][7][8][9] was created during the Cold War and used more or less synonymously with the term Eastern Bloc, including the countries that historically and geographically belong to Central Europe.[10] A similar definition names the formerly Communist European states outside the Soviet Union as Eastern Europe.[3] These are also described as the constituents of Central and Eastern Europe.

Contents

Definitions

CIA World Factbook classification:      Eastern Europe      Southeastern Europe      Transcontinental
Regions used for statistical processing purposes by the United Nations Statistics Division (Eastern Europe marked red):      Northern Europe      Western Europe      Eastern Europe      Southern Europe
Members of specific Divisions of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names[11]:      Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia Division      East Central and South-East Europe Division
Pre-1989 division between the "West" (grey) and "Eastern Bloc" (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR (medium orange), members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange).
Several definitions of Eastern Europe exist today, but they often lack precision or are extremely general. This definitions vary both across cultures and among experts and political scientists, recently becoming more and more imprecise [12].
The Economist and other sources argue that "Eastern Europe" is a mala fides (consciously misleading and inaccurate) socio-economic and cultural stereotype routinely used by Western conservatives for post-Communist countries.[13][14] It is asserted that the double standard becomes apparent when a comparison between Western Europe and the more developed regions of "Eastern Europe" reveals broad similarity in indicators such as quality of life, budget deficit and corruption. In fact, a global quality of life index by International Living (2010) places four "Eastern European" countries in the top 30 with Hungary leading at the 20th place.[15] "[T]he term 'Eastern Europe' has become meaningless, both as a generic geographic or economic label."[16][17][18][19][20]

CIA

The CIA World Factbook[21] describes the following countries as located in:

UN

  • The United Nations Statistics Division developed a selection of geographical regions and groupings of countries and areas, which are or may be used in compilation of statistics. In this collection, the following ten countries were classified as Eastern Europe[23][24]: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine. The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations[25]. Rather than being geographically correct, United Nations' definition encompasses all the states which were once under the Soviet Union's realm of influence and were part of the Warsaw Pact.
  • The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) was set up to consider the technical problems of domestic standardization of geographical names[26]. The Group is composed of experts from various linguistic/geographical divisions that have been established at the UN Conferences on the Standardization of Geographical Names.
  1. Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia Division[11]: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan.
  2. East Central and South-East Europe Division[11]:Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine.
  3. Romano-Hellenic Division[11]: Fourteen countries[27] including Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Holy See, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Romania, Moldova and Turkey.
  4. Baltic Division[11]: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
  • Other agencies of the United Nations (like UNAIDS[28], UNHCR[29], ILO[30] or UNICEF[31]) divide Europe into different regions and variously assign various states to those regions.

Geographical

The Ural Mountains are the geographical border on the eastern edge of Europe. In the west, however, the cultural and religious boundaries are subject to considerable overlap and, most importantly, have undergone historical fluctuations, which make a precise definition of the western boundaries of Eastern Europe somewhat difficult.

Political and cultural

One view of the present boundaries of Eastern Europe came into being during the final stages of World War II. The area eventually came to encompass all the European countries which were under Soviet influence or control. European These countries had communist regimes imposed upon them, and neutral countries were classified by the nature of their political regimes. The Cold War increased the number of reasons for the division of Europe into two parts along the borders of NATO and Warsaw Pact states. (See: The Cold War section)
A competing view excludes from the definition of Eastern Europe states that are historically and culturally different, constituting part of the so-called Western world. This usually refers to Central Europe and the Baltic states which have significantly different political, religious, cultural, and economic histories from their eastern neighbors. (See: Classical antiquity and medieval origins section)

Contemporary developments

The fall of the Iron Curtain brought the end of the East-West division in Europe.[32] Even if this geopolitical concept is still in use,[33] reference to European geographic and cultural regions is becoming acknowledged.[34]

The Baltic states

Main article: Baltic states
The Baltic states were occupied by the Soviet Union and are currently EU members. They can be included in definitions of both Eastern Europe (in the former political sense, due to their communist past) and Northern Europe (due to cultural reasons).[35][36]

Transcaucasia

To the degree that the countries of the Caucasus region are considered European, they would be Eastern European in the physical geographic, political and cultural sense.

Other former Soviet states

Four other former Soviet republics are considered to be part of Eastern Europe in both political and cultural sense.

Central Europe

Main article: Central Europe
Most Central European states had communist governments imposed upon them during the Cold War but are currently EU members. In the post-Iron Curtain era, the label Eastern European is being increasingly regarded as derogatory in a Central European context. "Capitalism against Communism can no longer be used to clarify difference; instead vague and imprecise definitions exist. These too, are slowly being eroded as Eastern and Western Europe merge into a single 'Europe'".[37] The following countries are still being labeled Eastern European by some commentators (in the former political sense, due to their communist past) and as Central European by others (due to economic, historical, religious, and cultural reasons).[35][36][38]

South-eastern Europe

Main articles: Balkans and Southern Europe
Most South-eastern European states did not belong to the Eastern Bloc (save Bulgaria, Romania, and for a short time, Albania) although some of them were represented in the Cominform. Only some of them can be included in the classical former political definition of Eastern Europe. Due to cultural diversity of the region, affiliation of individual countries may be difficult. All of these states except Bulgaria, Romania and usually Slovenia can be considered as being in Southern Europe.[39] However, most can be characterized as belonging to South-eastern Europe, but some of them may also be included in Central Europe or Eastern Europe[40].
  •  Albania belongs to South-eastern Europe.
  •  Bosnia and Herzegovina may be included in South-eastern Europe and Southern Europe
  •  Bulgaria can be included in Eastern Europe in the Cold War context, but is commonly known to belong to South-eastern Europe.
  •  Croatia may be included in South-eastern Europe and Central Europe.
  •  Cyprus belongs to South-western Asia (Middle East), but because of its historical Hellenic ties with Europe, it may be included into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.
  •  Greece may be included in South-eastern[41] and Southern Europe, but the country does not form part of Eastern Europe in the geopolitical sense nor in the colloquial sense.
  •  Macedonia belongs to South-eastern Europe.
  •  Montenegro belongs to South-eastern Europe.
  •  Romania can be included in Eastern Europe in the Cold War context, but is commonly referred to as belonging to South-eastern Europe[42] or Central Europe[43].
  •  Serbia may be included in South-eastern Europe and Central Europe.
  •  Slovenia is commonly referred to as Central European[44], but may less commonly be referred to as South-eastern European because of its status within the former Yugoslavia.
  •  Turkey may be included in South-eastern Europe, as a very small part, namely East Thrace lies geographically in Europe, but the rest of the country belongs to South-western Asia (Middle East).

History

Classical antiquity and medieval origins

Predominant religious heritages in Europe
     Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language      Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language      Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language
The political borders of Eastern Europe were largely defined by the Cold War. The Iron Curtain separated the members of the Warsaw Pact (in red) from the European members of NATO (in blue). Dark gray indicates members of the Non-Aligned Movement and light gray indicates other neutral countries.
Following disappearance of the Iron Curtain, the political situation has changed and some of the former members of the Warsaw Pact joined NATO.
     Current members     Acceding members     Promised invitation      Intensified Dialogue     Membership not goal     Undeclared intent
The earliest known distinctions between east and west in Europe originate in the history of the Roman Republic. As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek-speaking eastern provinces which had formed the highly urbanized Hellenistic civilization. In contrast the western territories largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east-west division of the Roman Empire.
The division between these two spheres was enhanced during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed starting the Early Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Byzantine Empire, managed to survive and even to thrive for another 1,000 years. The rise of the Frankish Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism that formally divided Eastern and Western Christianity, enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. Much of the Eastern Europe was invaded and occupied by the Mongols.
The conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Frankish empire) led to a change of the importance of Roman Catholic/Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox concept in Europe, although even modern authors sometimes state that Eastern Europe is, strictly speaking, that part of Europe where the Greek and/or Cyrillic alphabet is used (Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia).

The Cold war divides Europe into the Eastern and Western bloc

During the final stages of WWII the future of Europe was decided between the Allies at the 1945 Yalta Conference, between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.
Post-war Europe would be mostly polarized between two major spheres: the mainly capitalist Western Bloc, and the mainly communist Eastern Bloc. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain.
This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and later Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address March 5, 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri:
“ From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. ”
As the Cold War continued the use of the term Central Europe declined. Although some countries were officially neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political and economical systems. This division largely defined the popular perception and understanding of Eastern Europe and its borders with Western Europe till this day, along with the increasing polarization of the West-East relationship.

Eastern Bloc

Eastern Europe was mainly composed of all the European countries liberated and then occupied by the Soviet army. It included the German Democratic Republic, widely known as East Germany, formed by the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. All the countries in Eastern Europe adopted communist modes of government. These countries were officially independent from the Soviet Union, but the practical extent of this independence - except in Yugoslavia, Albania, and to some extent Romania - was quite limited. In some matters they were little more than client-states of the Soviet Union.
Under pressure from Stalin these nations rejected to receive funds from the Marshall plan. Instead they participated in the Molotov Plan which later evolved into the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (short: Comecon). As NATO was created, most countries of Eastern Europe, became members of the opposing Warsaw Pact, forming a geopolitical concept that became known as Eastern Bloc.
  • The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (formed after WWII and before its later dismemberment) was not a member of the Warsaw Pact. It was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, an organization created in an attempt to avoid being assigned to any of the two blocs. The movement was demonstratively independent from both the Soviet Union and the Western bloc for most of the Cold War period, allowing Yugoslavia and its other members to act as a business and political mediator between the blocs.
  • Albania broke with the Soviet Union in the early 1960s as a result of the Sino-Soviet split, aligning itself instead with China. Albania formally left the Warsaw pact in September 1968, after the suppression of the Prague spring. When China established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1978, Albania also broke with China. Albania and especially Yugoslavia were not unanimously appended to the Eastern Bloc, as they were neutral for a large part of the Cold War period.

Since 1989

With the Fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 the political landscape of the Eastern Bloc, and indeed of the world, changed. In the German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the German Democratic Republic in 1990. COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
Many European nations which had been part of the Soviet Union regained their independence (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus).
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) fell apart, creating new nations: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Macedonia (see Breakup of Yugoslavia). FRY was later renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and, in 2006, it broke up into these two countries. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Many countries of this region joined the European Union, namely the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Three other states, Croatia, Macedonia, and Turkey are currently negotiating membership in the EU.

See also

External links

References and notes

  1. ^ "The Balkans", Global Perspectives: A Remote Sensing and World Issues Site. Wheeling Jesuit University/Center for Educational Technologies, 1999-2002.
  2. ^ a b http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/gegn23wp48.pdf
  3. ^ a b http://books.google.com/books?id=eWmDAd6vr5sC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=eastern+europe+definition&source=bl&ots=tYi5LhsIpz&sig=rHczwXEiCcPkVGNMUokIYc-sMVE&hl=en&ei=q5CPSt_0C4GN_AaSlK2vAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5#v=onepage&q=eastern%20europe%20definition&f=false
  4. ^ "Intergovernmental agencies like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or the World Bank therefore distinguish in practice between "Central Europe" -- Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia -- and "Eastern Europe". There seems to be a historical constant here: these Central European states are behind the West but still ahead of the East and of the Southeast." Lonnie Johnson: Central Europe: Enemies, neighbors, friends, Oxford University Press US, 1996; pp.11-12. http://books.google.com/books?id=e_m13Hk3AFEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false
  5. ^ "In Eastern Europe, countries still struggle to fulfill the promise of a strong democracy, or a vibrant market economy. Who to look to better than you? Who to look to better than Central European countries that 20 years ago acted with such courage and resolve, and over the last 20 years, have made such sustainable progress?" http://www.pims.org/news/2009/10/28/the-time-for-central-europe-has-come
  6. ^ http://www.sofiaecho.com/2010/01/10/839942_the-economist-eastern-europe-a-bogus-term
  7. ^ "One very common, but now outdated, definition of Eastern Europe was the Soviet-dominated communist countries of Europe."http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/balkans/BKdef.html
  8. ^ "Too much writing on the region has - consciously or unconsciously - clung to an outdated image of 'Eastern Europe', desperately trying to patch together political and social developments from Budapest to Bukhara or Tallinn to Tashkent without acknowledging that this Cold War frame of reference is coming apart at the seams."http://www.ce-review.org/99/1/hanley1.html
  9. ^ "The term 'Eastern Europe' is ambiguous and in many ways outdated." Sten Berglund, Joakim Ekman, Frank H. Aarebrot: The handbook of political change in Eastern Europe, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004, p.2. http://books.google.com/books?id=HeRzzwzdfPkC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=Eastern+Europe+term+outdated&source=bl&ots=LSLHG97Qxj&sig=6WDECgIXGRj7hrP6RNTBMqCvMHE&hl=en&ei=63n9StCdDNjD_gbp0vSMCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBgQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=Eastern%20Europe%20term%20outdated&f=false
  10. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=c5veakthzuQC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=eastern+europe+definition&source=bl&ots=RboH7AGxWe&sig=PNNe0xzciYbqsdAF6gGA_f3A-2E&hl=en&ei=q5CPSt_0C4GN_AaSlK2vAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10#v=onepage&q=eastern%20europe%20definition&f=false
  11. ^ a b c d e United Nations Statistics Division - Geographical Names and Information Systems
  12. ^ Drake, Miriam A. (2005) Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, CRC Press
  13. ^ http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15213108
  14. ^ http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15213613
  15. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/6943343/Britains-quality-of-life-worse-than-former-Communist-countries.html
  16. ^ http://www.sofiaecho.com/2010/01/10/839942_the-economist-eastern-europe-a-bogus-term
  17. ^ http://www.ce-review.org/99/23/lovatt23.html
  18. ^ http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=E1_PRSTNSV
  19. ^ http://www.alfa.lt/straipsnis/10303006/?Opinion..Lithuania.and.the.double.standards.of.the.European.Central.Bank=2009-12-05_09-00
  20. ^ http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO201B.html
  21. ^ The CIA World Factbook
  22. ^ In the geography section Estonia is described as located in Eastern Europe, but in the economy section as Central European
  23. ^ United Nations Statistics Division- Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)
  24. ^ World Population Prospects Population Database
  25. ^ United Nations Statistics Division- Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)
  26. ^ United Nations Statistics Division - Geographical Names and Information Systems
  27. ^ including Canada
  28. ^ http://www.unaids.org/en/CountryResponses/Regions/NAmerica_WCEurope.asp
  29. ^ http://www.unhcr.org/country/all.html
  30. ^ http://www.ilo.org/global/Regions/Europe/lang--en/index.htm
  31. ^ http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ceecis.html
  32. ^ V. Martynov, The End of East-West Division But Not the End of History, UN Chronicle, 2000 (available online
  33. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6957171.stm
  34. ^ The European Travel Commission - association of National Tourism Organisations, Regions of Europe
  35. ^ a b Wallace, W. The Transformation of Western Europe London, Pinter, 1990
  36. ^ a b Huntington, Samuel The Clash of Civilizations" Simon & Shuster 1996
  37. ^ http://www.ce-review.org/99/23/lovatt23.html
  38. ^ Johnson, Lonnie Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbours, Friends Oxford University Press, USA, 2001
  39. ^ http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#europe
  40. ^ Bideleux and Jeffries (1998) A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change
  41. ^ Greek Ministry of Tourism Travel Guide, General Information
  42. ^ Energy Statistics for the U.S. Government
  43. ^ NATO 2004 information on the invited countries
  44. ^ The European Travel Commission, association of National Tourism Organisations, Central Europe
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Quotes

Up to date as of January 14, 2010
(Redirected to East/Central Europe article)

From Wikiquote

Tell me where Central Europe is, and I can tell who you are.
— Jacques Rupnik
Eastern Europe, Central Europe, East Central Europe, etc. are variously defined and often overlapping geographic, historical and political regions occupying eastern and central portions of Europe.
  • We, representing together more than fifty million people constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs, Ukrainians, Uhro-Rusyns, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists, Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists, and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to alien domination (...) We have suffered destruction of our cities, violation of our homes and lands, and have maintained our ideals only by stealth, and in spite of the tyranny of our oppressors. We have been deprived of proper representation and fair trial. We have been denied the right of free speech, and the right freely to assemble and petition for the redress of our grievances. We have been denied free and friendly intercourse with our sister states, and our men have been impressed in war against their brothers and friends of kindred races.
  • Who rules East Europe commands the heartland, who rules the heartland commands the world.
  • If you ask me what is my native country, I answer: I was born in Fiume, grew up in Belgrade, Budapest, Pressburg, Vienna and Munich, and I have a Hungarian passport; but I have no fatherland. I am a very typical mix of old Austria-Hungary: at once Magyar, Croatian, German and Czech; my country is Hungary, my mother tongue is German.
    • Ödön von Horváth quoted in Kort, Michael (2001). The handbook of the new Eastern Europe. Twenty-First Century Books.  
  • From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.
    • Winston Churchill, speaking in 1946 at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, United States
    • Sinews of Peace. (2009, July 29). In Wikisource, The Free Library.
  • (...) There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration. (...) I don't believe (...) that the Yugoslavians consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. I don't believe that the Rumanians consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. I don't believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union.
  • [Central Europe is] a piece of the Latin West which has fallen under Russian domination [and] which lies geographically in the center, culturally in the West and politically in the East.
    • Milan Kundera in The Stolen West or The Tragedy of Central Europe (1983), quoted in Hyde-Price, Adrian G. V. (1996). The international politics of East Central Europe. Manchester University Press ND.  
  • I assume there is such a thing as Central Europe, even though many people deny its existence, beginning with statesmen and journalists who persist in calling it "Eastern Europe" and ending with my friend Joseph Brodsky, who prefers to reserve for it the name of "Western Asia." In these decades of the 20th century, Central Europe seems to exist only in the minds of some of its intellectuals.
  • In the work of Havel and Konrád there is an interesting semantic division of labour. Both authors use the terms "Eastern Europe" or "East European" when the context is neutral or negative; when they write "Central" or "East Central," the statement is invariably positive, affirmative, or downright sentimental.
  • Every Central European family has its own stormy history in which family catastrophes and national catastrophes are mingled. History is more than erudition here, it is the inner meaning of actions, a validating tradition, a largely unconscious norm and parameter for conduct today.
    • György Konrád quoted in Kumar, Krishan (2001). 1989: Revolutionary Ideas and Ideals.  
  • Tell me where Central Europe is, and I can tell who you are.
    • Jacques Rupnik quoted in Johnson, Lonnie (1996). Central Europe: enemies, neighbors, friends. Oxford University Press US.  
  • Central Europe is a dynamic historical concept, not a static spatial one; therefore its frontiers have shifted throughout the ages.
    • Johnson, Lonnie (1996). Central Europe: enemies, neighbors, friends. Oxford University Press US.  
Who to look to better than Central European countries that 20 years ago acted with such courage and resolve, and over the last 20 years, have made such sustainable progress?
— Joe Biden
  • In the late nineteenth century, the concept of a German-dominated Mitteleuropa was launched to coincide with the political sphere of the Central Powers. In the inter-war years, a domain called "East Central Europe" was invented to coincide with the newly independent "successor states" – from Finland and Poland to Yugoslavia. This was revived again after 1945 as a convenient label for the similar set of nominally independent countries which were caught inside the Soviet bloc. By that time the main division, between a "Western Europe" dominated by NATO and the EEC and an "Eastern Europe" dominated by Soviet communism seemed to be set in stone. In the 1980s a group of writers led by the Czech novelist, Milan Kundera, launched a new version of "Central Europe", to break down the reigning barriers. Here was yet another configuration, another true "kingdom of the spirit".
    • Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A History. Oxford University Press.  
  • For all the participants in this fascinating debate, "Central Europe" was defined, not by geography, but by values. "Central Europe" was, in György Konrád's words, a Weltanschauung, not a Staatsangehörigkeit (i.e., a way of looking at the world rather than a question of citizenship); for Leszek Kołakowski it was a "culturally connected area"; for Stefan Kaszyński a "state of mind"; for Czesław Miłosz "a way of thinking".
    • Hyde-Price, Adrian G. V. (1996). The International Politics of East Central Europe. Manchester University Press ND.  
  • No one writing about Transcarpathia can resist retelling the region's favourite anecdote: A visitor, encountering one of the oldest local inhabitants, asks about his life. The reply: "I was born in Austria-Hungary, I went to school in Czechoslovakia, I did my army service in Horthy's Hungary, followed by a spell in prison in the USSR. Now I am ending my days in independent Ukraine." The visitor expresses surprise at how much of the world the old man has seen. "But no!," he responds, "I've never left this village!"
    • Batt, Judy; Wolczuk, Kataryna (2002). Region, state and identity in Central and Eastern Europe. Taylor & Francis.  
  • Concernant en tous les cas les pays candidats, (...) honnêtement, je trouve qu'ils se sont comportés avec une certaine légèreté. Car entrer dans l'Union européenne, cela suppose tout de même un minimum de considération pour les autres, un minimum de concertation. Si, sur le premier sujet difficile, on se met à donner son point de vue indépendamment de toute concertation avec l'ensemble dans lequel, par ailleurs, on veut entrer, alors, ce n'est pas un comportement bien responsable. En tous les cas, ce n'est pas très bien élevé. Donc, je crois qu'ils ont manqué une bonne occasion de se taire.
    • Concerning, after all, the candidate countries, (...) I honestly think that they have behaved with a certain lightness. Because entering the European Union still requires a minimum of consideration for others, a minimum of consultation. If, on the first difficult subject, you begin to express your point of view independently of any consultation with the body which you incidentally want to join, then it is not very responsible behavior. In any case, it is not well brought-up behavior. So I believe that they missed a good opportunity to shut up.
    • Jacques Chirac at a press conference in Brussels on 17 February 2003, following a European Council emergency summit on Iraq
    • Conférence de presse de M. Jacques Chirac, Président de la République, à l'issue de la réunion informelle extraordinaire du Conseil européen. Présidence de la République. Retrieved on 2009-11-14.
Is it only an accident that the four most enduring popular culture villains, Frankenstein, Count Dracula..., the Morlak and the Golem... are connected somehow to Eastern European regions?
— László Kürti
  • There are several kinds of monsters in western popular culture today: werewolves, vampires, morlaks, the blood-countess and other creatures of the underworld. (...) Vampirism, and (...) monstrosity has been fundamentally intertwined with Eastern Europe (...) [I]s it only an accident that the four most enduring popular culture villains, Frankenstein, Count Dracula (Nosferatu), the Morlak and the Golem had emerged in Europe during modernity (...)? That all four creatures are connected somehow to Eastern European regions?
  • In Eastern Europe, countries still struggle to fulfill the promise of a strong democracy, or a vibrant market economy. Who to look to better than you? Who to look to better than Central European countries that 20 years ago acted with such courage and resolve, and over the last 20 years, have made such sustainable progress? You can help guide Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine along the path of lasting stability and prosperity. It's your time to lead. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus can benefit from your personal experiences.

Travel guide

Up to date as of January 14, 2010
(Redirected to Europe article)

From Wikitravel

Europe [1] encompasses an area of 10,400,000 km² (4,000,000 square miles), stretching from Asia to the Atlantic, and from Africa to the Arctic. It is one of the world’s seven continents. .European countries welcome more than 480 million international visitors per year, more than half of the global market, and 7 of the 10 most visited countries are European nations.^ January 21, 2002 Monday All animals are equal David Carr (London) European Union But some animals are more equal than others .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The scoundrels in Brussels have sold the European people a lot of things: a single market, the euro, the lifting of many border controls and, most recently, a binding global climate policy.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Will the people of this country not accept more readily the institutions of the EU if they are confident that decisions are taken by democratically elected Ministers, rather than by unelected bureaucrats?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .It's easy to see why - a well preserved cultural heritage, open borders and efficient infrastructure makes visiting Europe a breeze, and rarely will you have to travel more than a few hours before you can immerse yourself in a new culture, and dive into a different Phrasebook.^ LOUIS: Why didn't you say so before?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ However if you want to see a glimpse of the true future of 'democratic' Europe, don't look at Italy or Austria, look at post-war 'democratic' Bosnia-Herzegovina.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The more it is absorbed into the European project the more it will distance itself from self-government and the more it will be excluded from the huge economic and technological successes for which it is qualified by history and culture.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

Understand

History

.Europe probably has more human history packed into it than any place on the earth.^ The rest does not matter (and, besides, UKIP are probably no more hostile to immigration than is our current Labour Home Secretary).
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The more it is absorbed into the European project the more it will distance itself from self-government and the more it will be excluded from the huge economic and technological successes for which it is qualified by history and culture.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ We do not have to be ruled by EUrope in order to have European style cafés in London, any more than we have to be ruled by China to have Chinese Restaurants.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Starting with ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, the spread of Christianity, the Viking Age, through the Renaissance, to the development of the nation states which explored the world and built empires (Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, France and the Netherlands), and in the past century the World Wars and the growth of the European Union, ...^ Left-wing Labour MPs are girding themselves for a rebellion over a European Union plan which they say could spell the end of the National Health Service .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The British Council belongs to EUNIC , the European Union National Institutes for Culture, and this new organisation was launched on the 21st February 2007 (pdf file).
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ David Carr (London) European Union • North American affairs The world is a complex and confusing place oftentimes.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 in .Europe you won't go short on history.^ Go and buy a history book if you don't believe me.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

Geography

Europe's longest river is the Volga, which meanders 3,530 km (2,193 miles) through Russia, and flows into the Caspian Sea. Europe's highest point is Russia's Mt. Elbrus, which rises to 5,642 m (18,510 feet) above sea level. Western Europe's highest point is Mont Blanc in the French-Italian Alps, which rises to 4,810 m (15,771 feet) above sea level. .Other important high mountain ranges include the Pyrenees between France and Spain and the Carpathians that run through Central Europe to the Balkans.^ "In retrospect, all Sweden got was to put itself at a disadvantage in a car market that still includes, Britain, Japan, India, and various other important places.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Remaining EU 15 nations are projected to suffer losses in working population ranging from the manageable (France, minus 8%) to the catastrophic (Spain, minus 35%, Italy, minus 41%).
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Cyprus is also considered part of Europe.

Climate

Europe's climate ranges from subtropical near the Mediterranean Sea in the south, to subarctic near the Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean in the northern latitudes. There is much here for the traveller to enjoy, with a bewildering array of diversity and languages and culture, cosmopolitan cities and spectacular scenery, let alone some of the leading cities of the world.
Map of Europe's regions
Map of Europe's regions
Balkans
Baltic states
Britain and Ireland
Caucasus
Central Europe
France and the Benelux
Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus
Iberia
Italy
Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus
Scandinavia
Note: Parts of Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus are sometimes considered to be a part of Asia due to both culture, history and geography.

Cities

These are the nine most visited European cities, in order of popularity:
  • Paris - The capital of romance (and France) on the banks of the Seine
  • London - Britain's vibrant and truly multicultural capital
  • Istanbul - The only major city to span two continents and a fascinating melting pot of East and West.
  • Rome - The eternal city of seven hills and two and a half thousand years of history
  • Barcelona - Gaudi's cosmopolitan home on Mediterranean coast
  • Moscow - Europe's largest city is famous for it's nightlife and the iconic Kremlin
  • Prague - Magic city with it's renowned bridges spanning the Vltava River
  • Athens - The cradle of western civilization is teeming with historic monuments
  • Amsterdam - Canals, Rembrandt, Hashish and red laterns, the epicentre of liberal atitudes
  • Alps - Very popular mountain range for skiing, with the Mont Blanc as its highest peak.
  • Cinque Terre National Park, Italy - A gorgeous national park, which connects five picturesque villages.
  • Bialowieza National Park - The last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest that once spread across the European Plain.
  • Blue Lagoon - Amazing geothermal spa with the water temperature around 40 °C all year round, even in freezing conditions.
  • La Alhambra - Part fortress, part palace, part garden and part government city, a stunning medieval complex overlooking Granada.
  • Neuschwanstein Castle - The well-known fairy-tale castle in the Bavarian highlands.
  • Meteora - Six Eastern Orthodox monasteries built on natural sandstone rock pillars.
  • Plitvice National Park - Beautiful turquoise-colored lakes surrounded by a large forest complex.
  • Stonehenge - The well-known Neolithic and Bronze Age stone monument located on Salisbury Plain.

Countries

Europe is a continent of many wildly different countries. .A subset of these countries are in the slow and painful process of coming together as the European Union (EU).^ The European Union symbolises the ability of countries to come together to tackle common problems.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Natalie Solent (Essex) European Union (20) Over at EU Referendum under the heading "Caught red-handed" there is an instructive YouTube video.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ February 16, 2005 Wednesday Kyoto comes into effect Alex Singleton (London) European Union (20) The Kyoto Protocol comes into effect today.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.Not all EU countries have adopted the euro (€), the European Union single currency (see Buy), while a few countries outside the EU have adopted it.^ January 21, 2002 Monday All animals are equal David Carr (London) European Union But some animals are more equal than others .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The reason for my discomfort, apart from the source of the paper , was its argument that the interaction of a single currency and e-commerce will forge powerful synergies across the euro zone, enhance European competitiveness and accelerate the emergence of pan-European capital market.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Natalie Solent (Essex) European Union (20) Over at EU Referendum under the heading "Caught red-handed" there is an instructive YouTube video.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Likewise, most — but not all — EU members and a few non-EU countries have have joined the Schengen agreement, which abolished border controls between them (see Get in).^ If the EU really wants freer trade, it should start by challenging the price control systems of its own member states.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The Maltese will see, in its rudest form, what being a member of the EU means.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If you live in a EU country, in a few years, you could be subjected to the new European arrest warrant .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Here is a handy reference table, up to date as of 2009:
Country Symbol Currency EU member Schengen
implemented		 Time zone³ Eurail InterRail
Albania AL, .al ALL n n CET n n
Andorra AND, .ad EUR n n5 CET n n
Armenia ARM, .am AMD n n +4 n n
Austria A, .at EUR 1995 y CET y y
Belarus BY, .by BYR n n EET n n
Belgium B, .be EUR 1958 y CET y y
Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH, .ba BAM n n CET y y
Bulgaria BG, .bg BGN 2007 n EET n y
Croatia HR, .hr HRK n¹ n CET n y
Cyprus CY, .cy EUR 2004 n CET n n
Czech Republic CZ, .cz CZK 2004 y CET n y
Denmark DK, .dk DKK 1973 y CET y y
Estonia EST, .ee EEK 2004 y EET n n
Finland FIN, .fi EUR 1995 y EET y y
France F, .fr EUR 1958 y CET y y
Germany D, .de EUR 1958 y CET y y
Greece GR, .gr EUR 1981 y EET y y
Hungary H, .hu HUF 2004 y CET y y
Iceland IS, .is ISK n y WET n n
Ireland IRL, .ie EUR 1973 n WET y y
Italy I, .it EUR 1958 y CET y y
Kosovo6 KS (.rs) EUR n n CET n n
Latvia LV, .lv LVL 2004 y EET n n
Liechtenstein FL, .li CHF n y CET n n
Lithuania LT, .lt LTL 2004 y EET n n
Luxembourg L, .lu EUR 1958 y CET y y
Macedonia MK, .mk MKD n¹ n CET n y
Malta M, .mt EUR 2004 y CET n n
Moldova MD, .md MDL n n EET n n
Monaco MC, .mc EUR n n5 CET n n
Montenegro MNE, .me (.yu) EUR n¹ n CET n y
Netherlands NL, .nl EUR 1958 y CET y y
Norway N, .no NOK n y CET y y
Poland PL, .pl PLN 2004 y CET n y
Portugal P, .pt EUR 1986 y WET y y
Romania RO, .ro RON 2007 n EET y y
Russia RU, .ru (.su) RUB n n MSK4 n n
San Marino RSM, .sm EUR n n5 CET n n
Serbia SRB, .rs (.yu) RSD2 n n CET n y
Slovakia SK, .sk EUR 2004 y CET n y
Slovenia SLO, .si EUR 2004 y CET n y
Spain E, .es EUR 1986 y CET y y
Sweden S, .se SEK 1995 y CET y y
Switzerland CH, .ch CHF n y CET y y
Turkey TR, .tr TRY n¹ n EET n y
Ukraine UA, .ua UAH n n EET n n
United Kingdom GB, .uk GBP 1973 n WET n y
Vatican City V, .va EUR n n5 CET n n
¹ Official EU applicant countries.
² Kosovo uses the Euro as its official currency.
³ Winter time. In summer (last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October): WET → WEST (UTC+0 → +1), CET → CEST (+1 → +2), EET → EEST (+2 → +3)
4 Russia uses multiple time zones. EET in Kaliningrad Oblast, MSK (UTC+3) in Moscow, up to UTC+12 on Chukotka and Kamchatka.
5 Officially not a Schengen member, but Schengen visa holders are generally allowed entry.
6 Independence disputed, claimed by Serbia.

Get in

Rules for entering Europe depend on where you are going. .EU/EFTA citizens can travel freely throughout the continent (except Russia, Belarus and the Caucasus), so the following assumes you are not one.^ If anti-EU activists ever manage to start mounting effective resistance to the EU and actually undermining its authority, do you seriously doubt that laws suppressing what we say and do will not follow?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ For an example of anti-EU sentiments allied to deep and festering suspicion of the USA, you need look no further than Air Strip One .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The borders will disappear, people will be able to travel freely We'll be able to study in EU countries for free We'll be able to work anywhere in the EU We'll get a large chunk of money from Brussels More security .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.If you are entering a Schengen country and you plan to visit only other Schengen countries, you need only one Schengen visa.^ For an example of anti-EU sentiments allied to deep and festering suspicion of the USA, you need look no further than Air Strip One .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ On the other hand one can hardly be too sad at the removal of Messrs Kinnock and Patten and their replacement by only one bureaucrat.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The EUro-ratchet effect means that it only needs one British politician to relax on any particular issue, usually as part of an attempt to hold back the inevitable on some other front, for the deal to be done.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .As of January 2010 only the citizens of the following non-EU/EEA/Swiss countries do not need a visa for entry into the Schengen Area; note that they must not stay longer than three months in half a year and must not work while in the EU: Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Macedonia*, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro*, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Serbia*/**, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City, Venezuela, additionally persons holding British National (Overseas), Hong Kong SAR or Macau SAR passports.^ British relations with the United States and Canada are just fine, thanks...
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In 1997 only three of the fifteen EU countries had Conservative governments.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The agriculture negotiations are one of the sticking points in the wide-ranging trade talks, pitting the EU variously against the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Note that
  • while British subjects with the right of abode in the United Kingdom and British Overseas Territories citizens connected to Gibraltar are considered "United Kingdom nationals for European Union purposes" and therefore eligible for unlimited access to the Schengen Area,
  • British Overseas Territories citizens without the right of abode in the United Kingdom and British subjects without the right of abode in the United Kingdom as well as British Overseas citizens and British protected persons in general do require visas.
.However, all British Overseas Territories citizens except those solely connected to the Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas are eligible for British citizenship and thereafter unlimited access to the Schengen Area.^ It will, however, be based on the grounds that you are willing to work with us and also all contentious issues being discussed before the commencement of this transaction.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ And so we judge George Galloway's behaviour to be an act of treason undermining the security of the country as well as condemn all those who do the same by imposing the EU Tranzi agenda on the British sovereign.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Further note that
(*) Macedonian, Montenegrin and Serbian citizens need a biometric passport to enjoy visa-free travel and
(**) Serbian citizens with passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (Serbs residing in Kosovo) still do need a visa.
It is important to note that the 90 days visa-free stay applies for the whole Schengen area, i.e. it is not 90 days per country as some assume. .Citizens of the above countries who wish to travel around Europe for longer than 90 days must apply for a residency permit.^ Poverty was measured as that proportion of the population who had less than 60% of the country's median disposable income.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Any insult which includes reference to national stereotypes can only be directed against a person or persons who is/are permanently domiciled in or citizens of the country to which the said stereotype is applicable.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Insults may not be directed at persons who are merely resident in such countries.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .This can be done in any Schengen country, but Germany or Italy are recommended, because many other countries require applicants to apply from their home countries.^ Countries like Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, have large 'welfare' states but they do so by parasitically drawing wealth out of their large wealth creating capitalist economies...
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Provided the text meets the required standards, the applicant will be given permission to hold their conversation with such other person or persons as are identified in the initial application.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Some European countries, such as Italy, Germany and Sweden, have a significant number of non-state airports, but not France.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Non-Schengen countries, on the other hand, maintain their own immigration policies. Consult the country article in question for details. If you wish to visit a non-Schengen country and return to the Schengen area, you will need a multiple-entry visa. .It should be noted that Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are EU members, but they are not part of the Schengen Area.^ As England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all use the same coins, one of the four coins has to feature a bridge from each of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ He added that any members of a parliament delegation have to remember that they are representing the views of the EU assembly and not their own personal view points.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If the EU really wants freer trade, it should start by challenging the price control systems of its own member states.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .To add confusion Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway are not EU members but part of the Schengen area.^ Leaders from the EU's 25 member states are taking part in celebrations, after a night of festivities heralded its historic expansion.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.The implications of this are simple: countries in the EU maintain similar customs controls.^ Mr Jenkin maintains that, despite phrases ostensibly respecting countries' obligations to Nato, the draft constitution would give the EU primacy over the transatlantic alliance.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ I want the EU to get its way and for there to be a dramatic shift in power from London to Brussels, with commensurate huge diminution in democratic control of the political process in this country.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Therefore, one does not need to pass through customs when travelling to a non-Schengen EU country, but they may need to pass through immigration controls. .The converse is true for non-EU Schengen countries: you must pass through customs, but not immigration.^ If you live in a EU country, in a few years, you could be subjected to the new European arrest warrant .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "We respect trademarks of this kind within the EU, and you should therefore respect our trademarks outside the EU, and prevent non-EU farmers from using European geographical names on their products".
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "Excuse me fellow Europeans, I am here to inform you that this venue must turn down the music to an EU-approved 83db.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

By plane

.The largest air travel hubs in Europe are, in order, London (LON: LCY, LHR, LGW, STN, LTN), Frankfurt (FRA, HHN), Paris (CDG, ORY), and Madrid (MAD) which in turn have connections to practically everywhere in Europe.^ We do not have to be ruled by EUrope in order to have European style cafés in London, any more than we have to be ruled by China to have Chinese Restaurants.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .However, nearly every European city has direct long-distance flights at least to some destinations elsewhere, and other smaller airports can make sense for specific connections: for example, Vienna (VIE) has a very good network of flights to the Middle East and Eastern Europe, while Helsinki (HEL) is the geographically closest place to transfer if coming in from East Asia.^ The EU's leaders have never explained in a manner that makes simultaneous sense to all of EUrope's people.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ January 21, 2002 Monday All animals are equal David Carr (London) European Union But some animals are more equal than others .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ For a start, there are no good ideas in Western Europe but there is a mountain of 'Very Bad Ideas' and no shortage of people who know how to disseminate them very effectively.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Western Europe is the largest air hub in the world with London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Dublin, Manchester, Brussels all within an hours flying distance from each other.^ Ireland, they all argued, has done well out of Brussels; now let's give eastern Europe the same opportunity.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ There are not many Brits working for Brussels' think tanks, bringing expertise from the London think tank world, which may be part of the problem.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The think tank world in Brussels - all around the political spectrum - is thirty years behind the United States.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 From East Asia, Hong Kong and Bangkok are served by long-haul flights to most major European cities.

By train

The Trans-Siberian Railway from Beijing and Vladivostok to Moscow is a classic rail journey. .Also after the finalized construction of a railway link between Kazakhstan and China, the Historic Silk Road is becoming increasingly popular with adventurers, trying to beat down a new path, this new Almaty - Urumqi service runs twice per week, and Almaty is easily reached from Moscow by train.^ It has become increasingly obvious that European integration means transfer of authority to ever greater number of EU institutions, further from the reach of the member states' citizens.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ We need a new 3-way historic compromise between economy, society and environment.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Other options include several connections to the middle east, offered by the Turkish Railways (TCDD) [2]. There are weekly services from Istanbul via Ankara to Tehran in Iran, and Damascus in Syria, as well as a sketchy service to Baghdad.

By ship

.It is still possible, but expensive, to do the classic transatlantic voyage between the United Kingdom and the United States.^ Personally I would still put it on the English coin, and insist that it had been chosen to emphasise "the close cooperation between England and the rest of the United Kingdon".
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .The easiest option is by the historic, and only remaining Ocean Liner operator, Cunard Line[3], but expect to pay 1000-2000 USD for the 6 day voyage between Southampton and New York done around 10 times per year in each direction.^ And if that happens, it means it is only a matter of time before the other issues are gradually chipped away in the years to follow.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Countries such as Sweden, Holland, and Denmark, which initially pledged to let migrants from the 10 new states work freely in their countries from day one have changed their minds.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In continental Europe, by contrast, unemployment has been stuck between 8 and 11 per cent since 1991 and growth has reached 3 per cent only once in those 14 years.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 If your pockets are not deep enough for this price range, your only other options of crossing the Atlantic are pretty much limited to Freighter travel. .There are several lines crossing the Mediterranean, the main ports of call in North Africa is Tangier in Morocco and Tunis in Tunisia (See Ferries in the Mediterranean for more details), but there is also a little known option of going via Cyprus where you can use Louis Cruises crossings to Port Said in Egypt and Haifa in Israel as a regular ferry service.^ LUCY: So, am I going to see you again?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ There is already another more specific name for cheeses that do, which is "Parmigiano-Reggiano", and I have little problem with this name being restricted to cheeses from Parma, because it has never become generic.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "You might not believe it, but Franco-British defence is going great guns", said a senior diplomat.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Keep in mind though, that you can only do this on routes out of Cyprus, and it requires special arrangements - Varianos Travel in Nicosia seem to be the only tour agency offering this option.^ Not to keep their own people in, mind, but to keep the undesirable Westerners out .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Only the anarcho-capitalist option of voluntary exchange and contract seems capable of offering a peaceful alternative to a World State.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ It seems now, that when I hire someone, by the hour, to carry out a task for me, not only do I have to compensate them, at an agreed rate, for the disutility of their labour, but I also become in thrall to them.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

Get around

.There are no border controls between countries that have signed and implemented the Schengen Agreement.^ "At present there are absolutely no controls over the things people say to each other.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The project was initially based on a voluntary scheme between certain Continental countries and is now being extended through harmonisation and Member States' agreement.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ I want the EU to get its way and for there to be a dramatic shift in power from London to Brussels, with commensurate huge diminution in democratic control of the political process in this country.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Likewise, a visa granted for any Schengen Agreement signatory country is valid in all other countries that signed and implemented the treaty.^ He signed the Maastricht treaty as promised in his manifesto but did not implement it and eventually ceded to Brown a de facto veto not just over the euro but over further European integration.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The EU will have "exclusive competence" over trade, competition rules, common commercial policy, fisheries conservation and the signing of all international agreements.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ This nonsense seems all to be based on some Agreement that was signed a few years ago.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Be careful: not all EU members have signed the Schengen treaty, and not all Schengen treaty countries are members of the European Union.^ January 21, 2002 Monday All animals are equal David Carr (London) European Union But some animals are more equal than others .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Natalie Solent (Essex) European Union (20) Over at EU Referendum under the heading "Caught red-handed" there is an instructive YouTube video.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ June 10, 2002 Monday Americans against the EU Brian Micklethwait (London) European Union Pellerito wants more links from this to other blogs.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 See the table above for the current list.
.Airports in Europe are thus divided into "Schengen" and "non-Schengen" sections, which effectively act like "domestic" and "international" sections elsewhere.^ With national socialists already on the march throughout much of Europe, that's going to be like throwing a match into a tinderbox .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Regardless of the fate of the Iraqi regime, America will most likely get more American and, Europe, with the cancer of post-modernism coded into its DNA, will get more anti-American.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .If you are flying from outside Europe into one Schengen country and continuing to another, you will clear Immigration and Customs at the first country and then continue to your destination with no further checks.^ The political classes of Europe may disagree on many things but of on one issue there is no dissent: the European Union and the overriding importance of creating a country called 'Europe'.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "No further cases of SARS will be allowed into the European Union as this disease does not conform to European safety standards".
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ (Euro coins have one common side and one side that the country that would issues the particular coin into circulation can do what it likes with.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Travel to and from a Schengen Agreement country to any other country will result in the normal border checks. .Note that, regardless of whether you traveling within Schengen or not, at some airports, airlines will still insist on seeing your ID card or passport.^ Note: If you want to fly on a DC-3 before your betters prevent you for your own good, you had better hurry.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Within 18 months all Europeans could be lumbered with a Green Tax on airline travel.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Do you see why so many of us find your seemingly blind adoration of all things Euroepan so laughable?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Main article: Rail travel in Europe
A German high-speed ICE train
A German high-speed ICE train
Especially in Western and Central Europe, the trains are fast, efficient and cost-competitive with flying. .High-speed trains like the French TGV, the German ICE, the Spanish AVE and the cross-border Eurostar and Thalys services speed along at up to 320 km/h (200 mph) and, when taking into account travel time to the airport and back, are often faster than taking the plane.^ Downing Street at first dismissed the convention as a talking shop, but woke up when the French, Spanish, German and Italian governments gave it irresistible authority by appointing to it their foreign or deputy prime ministers.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If the people who flew the aircraft into the WTC were mostly French and German, no doubt there would be more of an imperitive to secure French and German co-operation.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ That approach fails to take into account both the influence that the US could still bring to bear and the fragility of the political project now approaching fruition.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .The flip side is that tickets bought on the spot can be expensive, although there are good discounts available if you book in advance or take advantage of various deals.^ Don't you know that there is no destination printed on that ticket you've just bought to ride the Great Rattling Train of Regulation?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ I actually bought the "Italian grated cheese" and not the much more expensive "parmesan" and although I had a sign to help me, I might well have figured it out even if I hadn't.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .In particular, the Inter Rail (for Europeans) and Eurail (for everybody else) passes offer good value if you plan on traveling extensively around Europe (or even a single region) and want more flexibility than cheap plane tickets can offer.^ Even more than now, I mean.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Actually, I am even more extreme than that.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ This is what he wants and he wants it more than anything else.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.The most extensive and most reliable train travel planner for all of Europe is the one belonging to the German railways (DB), which can be found here in English.^ But when the Council of Europe start urging the EU to regulate blogs like this one, it should be clear that none of the arguments which can be applied to broadcast media and or the press apply here.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Combatting spam has become a matter for us all, and has become one of the most significant issues facing the Internet today.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ And, one day, all of Europe will agree with you.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
EU Passenger Rights
.European Union (EU) Regulation 261/2004 of 17. February 2005 [4] gives certain rights to passenger on all flights, schedule or charter and flights provided as part of a Package Holiday.^ For certain, provided conditions are right.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ February 23, 2008 Saturday The EUvil Empire strikes again Dale Amon (Belfast, Northern Ireland/Laramie, Wy) Aerospace • European Union (22) The EU has determined that passenger flights by DC-3's flown by Air Atlantique Classic Flight or any one else must cease when new regulations come into effect on July 16th of this year.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The British Council belongs to EUNIC , the European Union National Institutes for Culture, and this new organisation was launched on the 21st February 2007 (pdf file).
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .It only applies to passengers flying from an EU airport or from an airport outside the EU to an EU airport on an EU carrier.^ The EU is enforcing such rules internally, because they can then argue for similar rules to apply outside the EU, and the EU believes that there are more such names in Europe than elsewhere.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Denied Boarding
If:
  • you have a valid ticket
  • you have a confirmed reservation
  • you have checked in by the deadline given to you by the airline
Then you are entitled to a compensation, which is:
  • €250 if the flight is shorter than 1500 km
  • but only €125 if it is delayed less than 2 hours
  • €400 if the flight is between 1500 km and 3500 km
  • but only €200 if it is delayed less than 3 hours
  • €600 if the flight is longer than 3500 km
  • but only €300 if it is delayed less than 4 hours
  • and a refund of your ticket (with a free flight back to your initial point of departure, when relevant)
  • or alternative transport to your final destination.
The airline also have to cover the following expenses:
  • two telephone calls or emails, telexes or faxes
  • meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time.
  • hotel accommodation if you are delayed overnight.
Usually they will give you a prepaid phone card, and vouchers for a restaurant and a hotel.
Refund for delayed flight
.If your flight is delayed 5 hours or longer you can get a refund of your ticket (with a free flight back to your initial point of departure, when relevant).^ Remember: what a business person can do across a border in minutes, hours, days can take a lawyer weeks, months, years to do across the same borders if you choose your borders well.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In compliance with this you are to forward to me the following details: your complete names and addresses, confidential telephone and fax numbers, bank account details and all relevant account numbers.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ British state to use force against both you and your employer if you will insist on contributing to economic growth for longer than 48 hours in a week.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.All flights within and from the European Union limit liquids, gels and creams in hand baggage to 100 mL/container, carried in a transparent, zip-lock plastic bag (1L or less).^ Gustave La Joie (Londres) European Union • French affairs (7) TF1, a French TV station carries this [link disabled] video report of a debate within France's Socialist Party, concerning the ratification of the EU Constitution.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ But the European Commission wants all member states to allow its police to carry out random tests.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ David Carr (London) European Union (8) According to super-rich, property magnate Will Hutton, we are all Europeans now : .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 The bag must be presented during security checks and only one bag per passenger is permitted.

Discount airlines

Main article: Discount airlines in Europe
.Dozens of budget airlines allow very cheap travel around Europe, often much cheaper than the train or even bus fares for the same journey, although this fact should be balanced with consideration to the enviromental impact of short distant flights and the hassle of the airport experience.^ In fact, it is even worse than that.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Heaven forbid that the people of Europe should be allowed to buy really cheap clothes, as much as they want.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Member states should implement it even faster than they are doing already.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Currently the cheapest flights are offered by low cost airlines such as AirBerlin, Germanwings, EasyJet, Tuifly, Ryanair and WizzAir, with the lowest fares usually found on routes which go to or from cities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary.^ The 15 old members welcomed in Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia at midnight.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia are all set to join the EU in May 2004."
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ As England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all use the same coins, one of the four coins has to feature a bridge from each of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .All of these flights should be booked on the internet well in advance, otherwise the price advantage may become non-existent.^ This is heavy-handed legislation which I believe should be withdrawn but all we may be able to do is a damage limitation exercise."
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Every new regulation from the EU seems to add to the pile, and the language of the EU is that Britain should become more like these countries, not that Europe should become more competitive.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ I think that anyone who has allowed themselves to become the sort of person who would sincerely defend these lies and abuses of democracy should be regarded as a weirdo.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Always compare prices with major carriers like British Airways, Austrian Airlines or Lufthansa! .Only in very few cases prices are higher than € 80 on any airline when booking a month or more ahead of time (except on very long routes e.g.^ How long until George Bush scores a higher approval rating among Europeans than Brussels does?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ It has taken me more than two months to get around to exhibiting these photos, for which apologies, but I presumably things have not changed that much since I took them.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Whilst nothing is certain in this life and two years is a long time in politics, I think a third term in the White House for Ronald Reagan is slightly more likely than him succeeding on that count.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Dublin - Istanbul). .You should also make sure where the airport is located, since some low cost airlines name very small airports by the next major city, even if the distance is up to two hours drive by bus (e.g.^ Even the small details begin to back up Mark Steyn.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Even if that were not the case and, by some miracle, the 'no' campaign won a slim majority, we all know what happens next.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Labour has suffered the lowest share of the vote since the First World War, albeit on a very low turnout of voters.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Ryan- and Wizzair's Frankfurt-Hahn, which is not Frankfurt/Main International).

By bus

Eurolines[5] connects over 500 destinations, covering the whole of the continent and Morocco. Eurolines allows travelling from Sicily to Helsinki and from Casablanca to Moscow.
Touring[6] (German variant of Eurolines), Sindbad[7] (Polish), Lasta[8] (from Serbia), Linebus[9] (Spanish) and National Express[10] (from the UK) are other options.
For longer distances, travelling by bus often isn't any cheaper than flying with a low cost airline. .It's worth considering if you travel at short notice, wish to see the countryside you are traveling through, have heavy luggage, or are keen on reducing your travel-related CO2 emissions.^ Do you see why so many of us find your seemingly blind adoration of all things Euroepan so laughable?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ You do not own your own labour, it is no longer yours to give or not give, as you see fit.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Main articles: Ferries in the Mediterranean, Ferry routes to British Mainland
The Baltic sea has several lines running between the major cities (for example Gdansk, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga etc). Most ships are very large, parallelling Caribbean cruise liners in size and in service.
In the Atlantic, Smyril Line [11] is the only company sailing to the rather remote North Atlantic islands; Iceland and the Faroe Islands It sails from Denmark, which also host numerous lines to Norway and Sweden. From the British isles a huge number of lines still cross the English channel to France, despite the opening of the channel-tunnel. .And there are also numerous services to Denmark, the Benelux and even across the Biscay to Spain.^ An article at ZDNet UK says that the EU bureaucrats aren't even considering the numerous anti-software patenting opinions out there.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Further south there is a weekly service from Portimão to the Canary Islands via the remote volcanic Madeira island.
.In the Mediterranean Sea a large number of ferries and cruise ships operate between Spain Italy and Southern France.^ Countries like Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, have large 'welfare' states but they do so by parasitically drawing wealth out of their large wealth creating capitalist economies...
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ (To my eye, a remarkably large number of them resemble real bridges that are actually in France, but that might be just me).
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Some European countries, such as Italy, Germany and Sweden, have a significant number of non-state airports, but not France.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 And across the Italian peninsular ferries also ply across the Adriatic sea to Croatia and Greece, with Bari as the main terminal (out of many).
And finally The Black Sea also has several ferries plying across it's waters, albeit service can be fairly sketchy at times. Poti Istanbul and Sevastopol are the main ports, but nearly all the Black Sea ports has a ferry going somewhere, but rarely anywhere logical - i.e. often along the coast.
There are also various ferries on the larger lakes and for crossing rivers. Furthermore, there are several regularly running cruise-lines on the larger rivers like the Rhine, Danube and the Volga. .And boating excursions within Europe, particularly along the scenic rivers and between many of the islands in the Mediterranean , are an excellent way to combine travel between locations with an adventure along the way.^ The chances are that this particular item of fruitbattery is the result of the idiot collision between the separately sane - but when combined in Britain fruitbatarian legal traditions of Britain and of Continental Europe.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In many ways the most significant feature of this is that it has made the intellectual and social disconnect between whole peoples in the EU's constituent nations impossible to paper over.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In economic terms, it is somewhere in the mid-Atlantic - half way between Europe and America."
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Accommodations range from very basic to extremely luxurious depending upon the company and class of travel selected. .Another famous line is the Hurtigruten cruise-ferries which sails all along Norways amazing coastline and fjords.^ First, of all, taxing on-line transactions is not specific to the EU, merely another thieving hand of the state.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Speed limit
End of speed limit
Stop
Yield
Priority Street
Priority Street ends
No overtaking
No parking
European route
The ease of driving on the continent varies greatly, and as a general rule east and west of the old iron curtain are two different worlds. Western (old) Europe for the most part have good road conditions and a extensive and well developed highway network, whereas Eastern (new) Europe are still working hard on the great backlog left behind from socialist days. During vacations, especially during summer and Christmas vacations, driving on the highways can be hellish, particularly in Germany (listen for the word Stau in the automated traffic broadcasts).
.There are no uniform speed limits across the union, but the fabled free speed limits are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and are now limited to a few sections of rural autobahn in Germany.^ The political classes of Europe may disagree on many things but of on one issue there is no dissent: the European Union and the overriding importance of creating a country called 'Europe'.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Although I don't know what it was like then, now there are plenty of celebs prepared to endorse a "No" campaign.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ There is no doubt that 2004 ought to have been a great year, the year East Europeans became full members of a revived, streamlined and more democratised European Union.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 The majority of highways have a 110-130 kph (70-80 mph) speed limit. .For North Americans a major difference is the right lane on highways are not the "fast lane" you're used to, but rather the "passing lane", it's illegal to overtake on the left, so you should only occupy the outer lane when you are overtaking someone, stay there, and you will have other vehicles tailgating while flashing their lights in annoyance.^ Until there is a meaningful choice, do not vote for anyone or you will be deluding yourself that you are making any significant difference.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ We may not see equal prices everywhere because there may be other factors affecting costs: land prices, distance, demographic differences, even the cultural acceptability of using medication.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ While I was here, you changed from driving on the left of the road to driving on the right.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Remember to use turn signals when changing lanes.
.Except for priority streets (check the symbol in the table) there is a general duty to give way to traffic from your right in crossings and intersections, and other drivers have every expectation you adhere to this.^ But that's socialism for you, always failing, always another generation of idiots waiting to give it yet "another" try.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If you keep exercising your constitutional right to choose, then the Brussels politicians are going to get very, very, very angry with you.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ And when you repeat, in that wooden and perfunctory way, that our situation is better than others, that we’re well place to weather the storm, I have to tell you, you sound like a Brezhnev-era Apparatchik giving the party line.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .But in the ubiquitous roundabouts (circles) you find everywhere across the continent, cars already in the circle always have the right of way, don't give way to incoming drivers while in the roundabout, or you will mess up the system, potentially causing some nasty accidents.^ When some in Washington say that European policy in Iran has failed, my immediate reaction is that we need to find new ways to support reform there, not that we should put up the shutters.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The EUnuchs will try and find some way to blame this whole farrago on the Americans in general and George Bush in particular.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ I have no doubt whatsoever as to which side will emerge triumphant but what worries me deeply is that Britain is already more than half-way signed up to the wrong side.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Finally, don't do right turns on red lights, it's illegal, and because it's not common practice, also dangerous.
Avoid large cities if you are not used to driving in Europe. Most city centres were build long before the introduction of the auto-mobile, and were not meant to cope with the levels of traffic common these days. .So for the most part it's a slow, frustrating and potentially dangerous experience, and even then, finding a parking spot can potentially take hours and cost an arm and a leg when you finally find it.^ Remember: what a business person can do across a border in minutes, hours, days can take a lawyer weeks, months, years to do across the same borders if you choose your borders well.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ This chemicals ban, like measures such as "employment rights", paternity leave or 35-hour weeks, impose costs on the populace without a government having to take the potentially visible and unpopular step of raising taxes.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Instead Park at the outskirts of town, where it is often free, and use the public transit system instead. .If you are renting, try to work around having a car while visiting big cities.^ Now once again today you tried to spread the blame around, you spoke about an international recession; an international crisis.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
  • Age: Almost everywhere, especially in the EU, you need to be 18 years old to drive, even supervised, and in countries with Learning schemes, it's usually an exhaustive procedure to get a permit, and rarely applicable to foreign citizens anyway. Exceptions include Portugal, Ireland and the UK.
  • Equipment
    • A warning triangle is compulsory nearly anywhere, and so is using it in case of breakdowns.
    • Hi-Visibility (reflective) vests are compulsory in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Spain and gaining popularity elsewhere.
    • Headlamp Adjusters are also compulsory equipment in many countries.
  • Paperwork
    • Original Registration Document is compulsory
    • Motor vehicle insurance certificate is compulsory
    • A black and white, 2-3 letter country identity sticker is compulsory for cars without EU license plates.
    • International driving permit, while it's not compulsory for certain nationalities in some European countries, it's cheap, and could potentially save you from nasty incidents with authorities.
If you plan on renting a car for driving across Europe, it often makes sense to check the rates in different countries rather than just hire a car in the country of arrival. .The price differences can be very substantial for longer rentals, to an extent where it can make sense to adjust your travel plans accordingly.^ In other words, in a very real sense – not at all an arcane, academic point – as Lisbon bites, it will no longer makes any difference at all who we elect.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ They would love to give the FBI your travel plans, bank account details and dietary preferences.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The tax, once created, will most assuredly be 'reviewed' and 'adjusted' until it makes travelling by air impracticable for all but the wealthiest and the bureaucratic elite.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 I.e. if you plan on travelling around Scandinavia by car, it will often be much cheaper to fly into Germany and rent a car there. .Compared to North America, you should be prepared for smaller, but more efficient cars, and automatics are for the most part a rare premium, never expect one without requesting it while placing your order.^ "One should never say never.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "You are moulding somebody to listen to you, so if it means rapes have to take place in order for that person to take instructions from you, then it's OK," he said.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ A recent report from the French Institute of International Relations predicts that, by the middle of the century, the EU's GDP will be growing at just over 1% a year compared with more than 2% in North America and at least 2.5% in China.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.In any case driving in Europe is an expensive proposition, gas prices hovers around $7-8 per gallon (€1.30-1.50 per litre) in much of western Europe, while often slightly cheaper in Eastern Europe.^ French landowners and so pump up food prices in Europe, thereby creating poverty in Africa, which we then fail to solve through inefficient but expensive aid programmes.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Demand in the cheaper country goes up, pushing up prices there, and supply increases in the more expensive country, pushing prices down.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Rentals are around 2-3 more expensive than in North America, Highway tolls are very common, city centre congestion charges increasingly so, and even parking can work up to €50 ($70) per day in the most expensive cities.^ Even more than now, I mean.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Actually, I am even more extreme than that.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Then they will be paid, most lavishly, for working that day.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Driving can be an enjoyable and feasible way to see the country side, but most Europeans would find a vacation to say, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, in a rented car completely laughable.^ The way I see it is that Brussels is a fledgling market.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The Czech Republic is, at present, the last country to stand in the way of what will be a dangerous acceleration in the move of the EU towards the status of being a complete state in its own right.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ When some in Washington say that European policy in Iran has failed, my immediate reaction is that we need to find new ways to support reform there, not that we should put up the shutters.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

By thumb

.Hitchhiking is a common way of travelling in some parts of Europe, especially in former eastern bloc countries.^ The fruits of the lumbering Euro-cracy that has left the former Eastern Bloc countries on the periphery kicking their heels for far too long, thus giving them ample time to read through all the small print.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Slovakia, which was part of the same country as the Czech part of the former Czech Republic for more than sixty years until 1993, has the worst indicators eleven years after Czechoslovakia split.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .It can be a pleasant way to meet lots of people, and to travel without spending too many euros.^ Cast your eye over the deal and note it has as many (loop)holes as Swiss cheese (which, by the way, is produced without EU subsidies).
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The scoundrels in Brussels have sold the European people a lot of things: a single market, the euro, the lifting of many border controls and, most recently, a binding global climate policy.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ I dare say in WWII there were many people, ordinary people, who really did spend a substantial fraction of their time thinking up ways to hurt the Axis.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Don't forget to check out the tips for hitchhiking.
.Note that in the former eastern bloc, you may run into language problems while hitchhiking, especially if you speak only English.^ Not only can you not say that cheese that is not from parma cannot be called "parmesan cheese", you may not use the word "parmesan" in any wayon the packaging.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In a quite literal sense, popularity is mandatory: you may only do what a plurality allows you to do.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Top of the morning to you, Mrs. Murphy Yet when translated by official EU translators from Irish accented English, into Portuguese and then into Italian and then back into English, the result was: .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .It is not advisable to hitchhike in former Yugoslavia, for example between Croatia and Serbia, because you could run into big problems with nationalists.^ Tory party because if you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
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 ^ There is just so much ideological overlap between the big parties these days that Balfe could switch parties without himself moving his position.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Between Croatia and Slovenia it's not a problem. In Moldova and the Ukraine, it's better to take train or bus. .In western Europe, especially in the Netherlands and Germany, it's easy and fast to hitchhike.^ The relative economic decline of "old" Europe since the early 1990s - especially of Germany and Italy, but also of the Netherlands and France - has been a disaster almost unparalleled in modern history.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.
  • Music Despite an ever growing competition from the United States and nations with new found wealth, Europe is still the spiritual home of classical music and Opera, and the various European capitals are home to some amazing 'old world' opera houses, where the hundreds of years of history, often enhances the experience into something otherworldly.^ December 05, 2002 Thursday New tyrants for old Brian Micklethwait (London) Eastern Europe • European Union (5) Last night I needed to make a tube journey, but the combination of ticket machines unwilling to take notes and ticket booths without staff meant that having arrived at my local tube station I had to leave it again and buy something - anything - just to get some change.
    • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

     ^ The British Council belongs to EUNIC , the European Union National Institutes for Culture, and this new organisation was launched on the 21st February 2007 (pdf file).
    • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

     ^ The reason for my discomfort, apart from the source of the paper , was its argument that the interaction of a single currency and e-commerce will forge powerful synergies across the euro zone, enhance European competitiveness and accelerate the emergence of pan-European capital market.
    • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

     .But if opera singers give you a headache, and you would much rather head-bang, fear not, Europe has more music festivals than your liver will ever hold up to; the Roskilde Festival [12] in Roskilde, Sziget fesztivál [13] in Budapest and finally reigning champion Glastonbury [14] weighing in at 100.000 drunk souls, are widely considered the 3 big ones, but many other ones are not the slightest bit small.
  • Professional Sports Perhaps no other field has seen stronger European integration than sports, most professional sports has Europe wide leagues in place, and nearly every sport has a bi-annual European Championship.^ More than any of the others.
    • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

     ^ At first it was a bit of a joke, no one thought it would ever happen.
    • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

     ^ You nod your head, and get on with your life.
    • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
    • Football If you are already a soccer fan the game hardly gets any better than watching your favourite team battle it out against the world's greatest football clubs in the Champions League [15] or the Europa League [16]. Games in the pan European leagues usually takes place mid-week to allow for games in the national leagues to take place during the weekend. .For the popular teams the tickets are often old out week's in advance.
    • Basketball The pan European Euroleague [17] is the highest tier of professional basketball in Europe, featuring teams from 18 different European countries and some of the best basketball you'll find outside the NBA. The regular season runs Oct-Jan and play-offs takes place between Jan-May.
    • Handball Also sees a annual pan European tournament, the Champions League [18] taking place every year.^ Computerworld reports how overseas Internet retailers may see their European profit push derailed by one of the oldest drags on business: tax.
      • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

       ^ The political classes of Europe may disagree on many things but of on one issue there is no dissent: the European Union and the overriding importance of creating a country called 'Europe'.
      • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

       ^ Libertarians do of course differ between minarchists who favour some kind of tax-funded spending on courts and the armed forces, and anarcho-capitalists who do not.
      • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

       While the sport is little known outside Europe, it's one of the most popular sports on the continent. .Two teams with seven players each pass and bounce a ball to throw it into the soccer style goal of the opposing team.
    • Cycling Is another sport the enjoys much wider popularity in Europe, than virtually the rest of the world.^ With national socialists already on the march throughout much of Europe, that's going to be like throwing a match into a tinderbox .
      • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

       ^ 'Fortress Europe' trade barriers with the rest of the world?
      • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

       ^ We do not have to be ruled by EUrope in order to have European style cafés in London, any more than we have to be ruled by China to have Chinese Restaurants.
      • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

       Hundreds of competitions takes place every year, but the 3 unrivalled events of the year is the Tour de France [19], the Giro d'Italia [20] and the Vuelta a Espania [21], where thousands of thousands of spectators line up along the often hundred kilometre plus routes. The whole season is managed in a league like format called the Protour [22].
  • National Parks - There are more than 360 national parks [23] on the continent, in line with much you may expect from the worlds second most densely populated continent, many are small, some less than a single km², but perhaps surprising to many there are also some huge expansive national parks to explore, The Vatnajokull National Park on Iceland is largest covering around 12,000 km² (7,500 sq miles), and the fascinating national parks of Arctic Svalbard is not trailing far behind, while Yugyd Va National Park in the of the Russian Urals is largest on the mainland itself. In total the national parks of Europe encompasses an area of around 98,000 km² (37,000 sq miles).

Skiing

.Europe is home to some fantastic ski resorts, the Alps is home of some of the best ski resorts outside of the Rockies, and there are hundreds of them.^ I was in Darfur last week, on my way to co-chair the first ever meeting of the European Commission outside Europe, in Addis Ababa – the home of the Commission of the Africa Union.
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 ^ The EU is enforcing such rules internally, because they can then argue for similar rules to apply outside the EU, and the EU believes that there are more such names in Europe than elsewhere.
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 The largest area is Les Portes du Soleil [24], made up of 13 linked ski resorts in Switzerland and France, boasting over 650 km of marked runs. .But the fun doesn't stop in the Alps; The Scandinavian Mountains features some of the worlds most civilized and family oriented Skiing area's, but the lower altitude also means it's a trade-of for shorter runs - Åre is the biggest, while way up north Riksgränsen [25] allows skiing well into the summer.^ In many ways the most significant feature of this is that it has made the intellectual and social disconnect between whole peoples in the EU's constituent nations impossible to paper over.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The most paranoid EUnionist probably doesn't expect a gang of Montana militiamen to fly an Airbus into the Europol HQ, though I've heard some wonderfully wacky conspiracy theories about the US programme to destroy Western (European) civilisation.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Well, to be honest, it's void at the moment as entrepreneuring in Belfast is a better way to end up in the poor house than the cryostat but that is another story.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Scotland is home of 5 ski resorts, Nevis Range [26] has the highest vertical drop at 1130 meters, while Glenshee [27] is the largest. .A surprising option is Sierra Nevada in Spain, fairly large, just hours drive from the Mediterranean coast, and with a season often running into May - you can ski in the Morning, and chill on the beach in the afternoon.^ Top of the morning to you, Mrs. Murphy Yet when translated by official EU translators from Irish accented English, into Portuguese and then into Italian and then back into English, the result was: .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 To the North the Pyrenees shared with France and Andorra also offers excellent skiing in up to 2,700 meters (8,000 ft) altitude, Domaine Tourmalet [28] is the largest resort in the area with over 100 kms of pistes.
.Eastern Europe is seeing increasing popularity since prices are much lower than elsewhere on the continent, the downside is that facilities are not as expansive or modern as elsewhere in Europe, but things are rapidly improving.^ Ryanair pays a landing fee 85 per cent lower than the list price.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The relative economic decline of "old" Europe since the early 1990s - especially of Germany and Italy, but also of the Netherlands and France - has been a disaster almost unparalleled in modern history.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ It has taken me more than two months to get around to exhibiting these photos, for which apologies, but I presumably things have not changed that much since I took them.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Slovenia is cheap alternative in the expensive Alps, Kranjska Gora is the largest resort in the country. .The Carpathian mountains with the higest runs at almost 2200 meters (7200 ft) is another popular area; Poiana Brasov (Romania, 20 km, 11 lifts [29]) Zakopane (Poland, 30 km, 20 lifts [30]) and Jasna (Slovakia, 29 km, 24 lifts [31]) are the largest and most popular areas in the respective countries.^ Newspapers run stories almost daily on the "real" inflation rate, which some put as high as 30%.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
Eurozone (light-blue unilaterally adopted the euro)
Eurozone (light-blue unilaterally adopted the euro)
noframe
noframe
.The euro (Symbol: €; ISO 4217 code EUR) is the common currency of many countries of the European Union.^ The European Union symbolises the ability of countries to come together to tackle common problems.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The political classes of Europe may disagree on many things but of on one issue there is no dissent: the European Union and the overriding importance of creating a country called 'Europe'.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ (Euro coins have one common side and one side that the country that would issues the particular coin into circulation can do what it likes with.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .One euro equals 100 cent; officially referred to as 'euro cent' to differentiate them from their US and other counterparts.^ If you vote no to the Euro next month, that probability will rise to 100 per cent.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ It is for this reason the success of the 'No' campaign in Sweden (and Denmark, the other EU country to resist adoption of the Euro) has bearing for us in Britain and vice versa.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Britain and five other EU nations have challenged the Commission to reduce the maximum share of national budgets that Brussels can spend from 1.24 per cent of GDP to one per cent.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Established in 1999 and introduced in cash form on January 1st, 2002, the euro removes the need for money exchange. As such it is not only a boon to pan-European business, but of course also to travellers.
.The euro has not been adopted by all EU countries.^ If England are knocked out playing badly, by a EU country, I predict a swing to the euro.
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 ^ They promise to slash the monstrous bill of 43bn euro ($50) that EU countries' taxpayers have to foot in order to subsidise ehem...French...
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ It is for this reason the success of the 'No' campaign in Sweden (and Denmark, the other EU country to resist adoption of the Euro) has bearing for us in Britain and vice versa.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Those countries which have replaced their own national currencies are commonly called the Eurozone.^ How can a representative of the British public, a member of the nation's legislature, incite violence (as in inviting 'demonstration of a threat to insterests of the West in the region') against his own country?
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 By law, all EU countries (except Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) have to eventually adopt the euro, with the next round of enlargement now expected around 2012.
.Outside the EU, Kosovo and Montenegro have unilaterally adopted the euro, but all other countries still retain their own currencies.^ The Czech Republic is, at present, the last country to stand in the way of what will be a dangerous acceleration in the move of the EU towards the status of being a complete state in its own right.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The need for any currency, of any kind, will then disappear, of course, as we all collapse into each others' arms in a brotherhood of love and not-for-profit compassion.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "In retrospect, all Sweden got was to put itself at a disadvantage in a car market that still includes, Britain, Japan, India, and various other important places.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Euros are widely accepted in European countries outside the Eurozone, but not universally, and at shops and restaurants the exchange rate is rarely in your favor.^ This is flatly contradicted by the exchange rate evidence: the euro has risen sharply sinceMarch against both the US dollar and the pound sterling.
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 (Many hotels, though, price and accept payment in euros.) .Money changers will generally give good to excellent exchange rates for the euro, and in a pinch they will be accepted by nearly everybody.^ By rejecting warnings from the European Commission about their swelling budget deficit, they have done just a little more to hasten the decline of the Euro to the status of Monopoly money .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ This is flatly contradicted by the exchange rate evidence: the euro has risen sharply sinceMarch against both the US dollar and the pound sterling.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.Since it has been only a few years since the introduction of euro cash, some people may still use the old national currency names.^ Some Euro grandee says, in some directive or proclamation or fatwa or whatever, that people shouldn't have violently smelly compost heaps too near their kitchens.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Maybe surprisingly, it is younger Germans that are the most eurosceptic, with 73 percent of 18-24 year olds saying they would reject the euro.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Late last year, the Swedish Prime Minister - some vain creature whose name escapes me, but who likes to get himself photographed in company with Tony Blair - decided to try pushing his country into the Euro.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .They mean euros and cents, so just substitute the two mentally.^ Which means that, in a sense, they just did.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ I saw two campaigners for the Euro looking concerned as they discussed his speech.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ By rejecting warnings from the European Commission about their swelling budget deficit, they have done just a little more to hasten the decline of the Euro to the status of Monopoly money .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.It's a VERY BAD idea to accept any of the obsolete currencies.^ For a start, there are no good ideas in Western Europe but there is a mountain of 'Very Bad Ideas' and no shortage of people who know how to disseminate them very effectively.
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 ^ Software patents are a very bad idea as many have discovered in the US. They put a fence around parts of mathematics.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .While several countries' banks will still change them into euros, it's a lot of hassle and there is no guarantee that this will be possible everywhere or on short notice.^ This was because there was no dramatic difference, as there had been when it was taken from room temperature and dropped into hot water.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ (Euro coins have one common side and one side that the country that would issues the particular coin into circulation can do what it likes with.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If the people who flew the aircraft into the WTC were mostly French and German, no doubt there would be more of an imperitive to secure French and German co-operation.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .You should also expect to leave your personal information with the bank as a precaution against money laundering.^ If you read my article and decide to leave a comment, and I decide to delete that comment, and you then decide to start your own blog to decry the things I write, where is the 'political community' in all this?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Remember: what a business person can do across a border in minutes, hours, days can take a lawyer weeks, months, years to do across the same borders if you choose your borders well.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ In compliance with this you are to forward to me the following details: your complete names and addresses, confidential telephone and fax numbers, bank account details and all relevant account numbers.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

ATMs

Throughout Europe, automatic teller machines are readily available. They will accept various European bank cards as well as credit cards. .However, be prepared to pay a fee for the service (usually a percentage of the amount withdrawn, with a minimum of few euro).^ However, Greek Commissioner Taxis Mitopisis is campaigning strongly for all applicants to pay a fee which will be charged according the applicants income.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Read the labels/notices on the machine before using.
European ATMs do not usually have letters on the keypad. PINs longer than 4 digits are generally no longer a problem.

Credit cards

.Credit card acceptance is not as universal as in the United States, especially in Eastern Europe, but growing steadily.^ Keeping Britain both in the [United States of Europe] and outside of it militarily, diplomatically, and monetarily should become a prime U.S. objective in foreign policy.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The candidate should have strong political experience and international influence; the ability to communicate well; and the desire to draw the United States of America and Europe closer together.
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 .Some countries mandate that merchants check your ID for purchases of as little as €50, and many shops will insist on ID for any credit card transaction.^ This EU publication comes out against the screamingly obvious backdrop of Islamic youths running rampant in some communities in many countries.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.An increasing number of European countries, notably the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Nordic countries, have moved to a chip and PIN system, where credit cards all have a chip built in and you have to punch in your PIN code instead of signing a receipt.^ Countries like Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, have large 'welfare' states but they do so by parasitically drawing wealth out of their large wealth creating capitalist economies...
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If you live in a EU country, in a few years, you could be subjected to the new European arrest warrant .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ France issued a European Arrest Warrant in 2005 but recent extradition attempts have failed in both the UK and Spain.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .Any store that displays Visa, Mastercard, Amex etc logos is required to accept "traditional" sign-and-swipe cards, so be persistent if they initially refuse, although you may need to escalate to the manager.^ But that is not all they are because although Mr.Prescott may have been charged with implementing this grand scheme, he is merely obeying orders.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ You need lots of soldiers, and you deploy them where they will make the most difference.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 (With most terminals, swiping your card and simply waiting 20 seconds without entering the PIN will cause them to print out the signing slip.) .However, with self-service like gas pumps and ticket vending machines, you may be out of luck.^ By similar token, the Swedes may be more likely to vote 'no' if they are convinced that the British will stay out too.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ And if public opinion can be galvanised, he may stay his hand at wiping out what remains of Britain as an independent, self-governing nation.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ (Nothing like a few full page adverts in a newspaper to get them to cut out the worst of their lies and sneers about you.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

Stay safe

The biggest risks to your safety in Europe like in any major tourist area are pickpockets and muggings. .Using common sense and being aware of your surroundings can help to greatly reduce the risk of these occurrences.^ I spent the afternoon doodling designs for giant siege engines that we could use to surround Brussels and reduce it to brickdust.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Rather, he used the insights of economics to help show how human beings behaved.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Remember alcohol is an integral part of many European cultures but overuse can lead to violence and poor judgment! .In general, bars and pubs are not a place where alcohol causes these problems in Europe but it can end up being a big problem on the roads.^ There is already another more specific name for cheeses that do, which is "Parmigiano-Reggiano", and I have little problem with this name being restricted to cheeses from Parma, because it has never become generic.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If a generation of Brits has now grown up thinking that "Europe equals Hitler", that could be the popular opinion half of a British pincer movement against British EU provincehood, the other half being British elite hesitations.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ When will the British wake up from their pathetic little dreams of being Europeans and realise that we have been looking for our future in all the wrong places?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.Most European countries have very low levels of violence compared to the United States.^ Some European countries, such as Italy, Germany and Sweden, have a significant number of non-state airports, but not France.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ And then, most important of all, there is Britain's special relationship with the United States.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Even after six years of Gordon Brown, Britain remained by European standards a country of low taxes and light regulation.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 The main issues are drug use and gang related violence which are most prone in Britain and France, but it's virtually unheard of for any tourists to be involved in such issues. .The few "trouble areas" that should be avoided are the run-down suburbs of certain urban areas (particularly in Europe's largest cities, London and Paris) and some places in eastern and southern Europe do have much higher violent crime rates, and can be very dangerous for non locals, but these areas shouldn't be of interest to the average tourist.^ Heaven forbid that the people of Europe should be allowed to buy really cheap clothes, as much as they want.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ This was often very unlike the rest of Europe, where people either rented or bought on fixed rate mortgages.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Antoine Clarke (London) Eastern Europe • European Union • Sports (7) My recent posting on Slovakia contained a scoop and I missed it.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Central and Western Europe are generally the safest regions.
.Europe may be very urban and densely populated in general but as always when traveling in rural and forested / mountainous areas take the proper precautions.^ For a start, there are no good ideas in Western Europe but there is a mountain of 'Very Bad Ideas' and no shortage of people who know how to disseminate them very effectively.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .All it takes is one wrong turn down a ski piste and you are stranded.^ And, one day, all of Europe will agree with you.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ "Excuse me fellow Europeans, I am here to inform you that this venue must turn down the music to an EU-approved 83db.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 Time to take out the cell phone. Did you bring one?
.For more information see Common scams which contains many Europe-specific scams.^ Not surprisingly, the campaigners for a yes vote have descended from vague generalities - peace in Europe, more investment and jobs in Sweden, and so forth - to specific falsehoods.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ And thus many people in Croatia also look west to the EU and see something hopeful, something better, something more prosperous.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Europe, you see, is more attuned to concepts of 'social justice' and therefore kindler, gentler and more humane.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

Stay healthy

.There are no specific precautions required for staying healthy in Europe as most restaurants maintain high standards of hygiene and in the majority of countries tap water is safe to drink.^ The political classes of Europe may disagree on many things but of on one issue there is no dissent: the European Union and the overriding importance of creating a country called 'Europe'.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ For a start, there are no good ideas in Western Europe but there is a mountain of 'Very Bad Ideas' and no shortage of people who know how to disseminate them very effectively.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ This was because there was no dramatic difference, as there had been when it was taken from room temperature and dropped into hot water.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .However, for more precise details on these matters as well as for general information on emergency care, pharmaceutical regulations and dentistry standards etc, please consult the 'Stay safe' section on specific country articles.^ Every new regulation from the EU seems to add to the pile, and the language of the EU is that Britain should become more like these countries, not that Europe should become more competitive.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The CNE estimates that more than 3 people could be dying every two hours as a result of these regulations.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ A couple or more years ago, remember, it was argued - with a lot of convincing detail - that the euro would fall apart and countries like Italy would be forced to quit.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
.EU/EEA citizens should apply for (or bring) the free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which grants you access to state-provided healthcare within the European Union as well as Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein either at reduced cost or free of charge, under the same terms as a resident of the country you are visiting.^ Left-wing Labour MPs are girding themselves for a rebellion over a European Union plan which they say could spell the end of the National Health Service .
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Russia came under pressure from the European Union at the weekend to ratify the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gases, amid fears that Moscow's commitment may be wavering.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Natalie Solent (Essex) European Union (20) Over at EU Referendum under the heading "Caught red-handed" there is an instructive YouTube video.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 .If you are used to free healthcare in your own country, remember that some member states expect patients to pay towards their treatment, and you may be expected to do the same.^ The existing structure, which secures the rights of member states to make their own decisions and collective arrangements about foreign policy and criminal justice matters, will disappear.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ He added that any members of a parliament delegation have to remember that they are representing the views of the EU assembly and not their own personal view points.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The Czech Republic is, at present, the last country to stand in the way of what will be a dangerous acceleration in the move of the EU towards the status of being a complete state in its own right.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 And do remember that the EHIC does not equal a travel insurance; it doesn't cover private healthcare, the cost of mountain rescues or repatriation to your home country. Neither does it allow you to go abroad specifically to receive medical care.
.If you are not a EU/EEA citizen, remember to buy a travel insurance policy, while some countries does provide free emergency care for visitors, any follow-up treatment and repatriation is your own responsibility, and some countries expect you to foot the entire bill for any treatment yourself - the fabled universal healthcare system does not equal free treatment for non EU citizens.^ He added that any members of a parliament delegation have to remember that they are representing the views of the EU assembly and not their own personal view points.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ If anti-EU activists ever manage to start mounting effective resistance to the EU and actually undermining its authority, do you seriously doubt that laws suppressing what we say and do will not follow?
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ The Czech Republic is, at present, the last country to stand in the way of what will be a dangerous acceleration in the move of the EU towards the status of being a complete state in its own right.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]
This is a usable article. .It gives a good overview of the region, its sights, and how to get in, as well as links to the main destinations, whose articles are similarly well developed.^ Well look at this Stand article and then tell me why the EU is a good thing.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 ^ Similarly we are told how important the introduction of democratic institutions are for 'stability' in the region.
  • European Union Archives | Samizdata.net 27 January 2010 23:51 UTC www.samizdata.net [Source type: Original source]

 An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!

Wiktionary

Up to date as of January 14, 2010

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Wikipedia has an article on:

Contents

English

Eastern Europe

Etymology

Proper noun

Singular
Eastern Europe
Plural
-
  1. A socio-politic geographical area of eastern Europe usually including the European countries to the east of the Czech Republic, Poland and the Balkans, and to the west of the Urals.

Usage notes

The boundaries of Eastern Europe are not always clearly defined. "Overlapping" occurs in such cases as those of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Quotations

  • 1996 — Dennis P. Hupchick & Harold E. Cox, A Concise Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe, map 3
    The Slavic peoples' ancestors entered Eastern Europe between the 5th and 7th centuries from their original common homeland.

Synonyms

  • Eastern Bloc

Derived terms

Translations

Eastern Europe

See also


Simple English

[[File:|thumb|right|280px|Eastern Europe (presently)]] [[File:|right|thumb|200px|"West" (grey) and "Eastern Bloc" (orange) before 1989. National borders of today: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange), members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes (lightest orange).]] Eastern Europe is the eastern region of Europe. There are several meanings possible:

  1. The region lying between areas of Central Europe and Russia. This meaning is used for the region since the end of the Warsaw Pact
  2. An other mening is: the area of land stretching from east to west as follows:
- its eastern limit is either the Ural Mountains within Russia or from the Pacific coast of the Russian Far East
- its western limit is the boundary between the European Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States (sometimes excluding Kaliningrad).

Politically, "Eastern Europe" may in fact cover all of northeastern Eurasia, since Russia is one single transcontinental country. Cyprus is also frequently taken to be a European state, although geographically it is in Asia. The same approach is also sometimes taken with the post-Soviet states of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus.

The borders of Eastern Europe are not clear as regions are not physical features that can be defined by neutral criteria.

In recent years, with the spreading of the European Union, many countries Eastern Europe have sharply increased their economies, quality of life and cities. This has also boosted tourism, the film industry, and even, to a lesser extent, immigration.

In many old sources, the term "Eastern Europe" still means such European countries that until the end of the Cold War (around 1989) were Communist states or countries under Soviet influence, i.e., the former Eastern Bloc. The majority of people in Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia often consider their countries to be part of Central Europe rather than Eastern Europe.

File:United Nations geographical
The definition of continental subregions in use by the United Nations (before 1989).

Other websites

Academic Institutions


Retrieved from "http://yak.rapint.com/wiki/Eastern_Europe"

Citable sentences

Up to date as of December 27, 2010

Here are sentences from other pages on Eastern Europe, which are similar to those in the above article.








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