Re:The Case for a Confederal Europe
by nescioquid on Thursday June 23, 2022 @01:47PM
(#31852678)
> common consumer protection laws in all areas of business
As an American, every time I buy something directly from a European company online (most recently ebooks, for instance) I come away thinking "wait -- was that it"? Like I was bracing to be drenched in raw sewage and given a black eye. Might be over-generalizing from my limited experience, but I do appreciate the difference. I feel like the U.S. quit even talking about consumer protection in the 80s.
So I'd say these things actually benefit more than just EU citizens!
EU currency isn't necessarily good, especially the attached ECB which now has no power to increase interest rates due to a disparity of member states with economies that are impossible to reconcile in a single currency.
- a common currency, eliminating the need to exchange currency - remember, Europe is a lot of small countries and you can drive six hours and pass eight different countries.
- a common border-control free zone ("Schengen agreement")
- a common, free-of-charge mobile phone roaming area
- common consumer protection laws in all areas of business, particularly data protection (GDPR), product safety (e.g. RoHS) and finance
- infrastructure development across Europe (e.g. constructing trans-European highway and rail network)
- a common economic market with the same standards for everyone
When comparing the EU to the US, I definitely prefer the EU, as dysfunctional as it can be sometimes (especially in foreign policy and military).