Dominic,

> Whoa, I had no idea! What an adventurous country to live in! Isn't it
> a tiny tad dictatorial?

'Autocratic' would be a more accurate term really. Using the term
'Dictaitor' (as the western media routinely do) implies that the leader
is governing unconstitutionally and lacks a popular mandate - neither of
which is the case here.

Eryk

> Whoa, I had no idea! What an adventurous country to live in! Isn't it
> a tiny tad dictatorial?
Since last fall, I tend to think that it's by far more adventurous
to live in Paris

Michael

P.S.
<disclaimer>I don't live in Belarus</disclaimer>
Lukashenko is my hero IMO, he is about the only politician out
there who is not hypocrite and tells _truth_ on a regular basis.
At least every time I listen to him on TV I have pretty much
nothing to object.

Eryk Bottomley wrote:
> Approved the constitution yet?

Yes.

> Stopped fighting the Services Directive yet? Implemented free
> migration and employment rights for ALL EU
> members yet? Agreed to scrap the CAP and divert the money to regional
> development programmes in the East yet?

How can all this be achieved when we have this UK ball on chain to deal
with? They can't even handle the very basics!

The EU is even subsidizing your silly royal family through farming
subsidies. That's outrageously ridiculous.

> ...there certainly is some
> serious "getting with the programme" needed in the EU right now
> ...starting in Paris.

I'm really sorry, but I don't think you can shift anti-EU sentiment
blame on Paris. Really.

Roy Lambert wrote:
> Hmmm. I'll allow you to rate French food however you like as long as
> you don't require me to do the same I think faste in food is a
> personal preference and I HATE frogs legs. I dislike tomatoes and am
> allergic to cheese so that lets me off a vast amount of cuisine from
> anywhere in the world.

Never had frog's legs. And I'm sure few French had them. Typical
stereotype.

> Nope and I know a "few" people in Europe who wish they hadn't <vbg>

Yes, there will always be a "few" people who prefer the middle ages.
<even bigger grin>

Eryk Bottomley wrote:
> neither of which is the case here.

Aw, okay. Had indeed heard it was a country rife with corruption,
nepotism, and occasional justice. Not enough objective reports, I
presume.

Michael Baytalsky wrote:
> Since last fall, I tend to think that it's by far more adventurous
> to live in Paris

Depends where you live. Wouldn't want to live in any ghetto, whatever
city it belongs to.

"Dominic Willems" <domus.software@pandora.be> wrote in message
news:6BA4F75C-1FF4-4F99-B57F-0309D988CBB6@news.elevatesoft.com...
> Aw, okay. Had indeed heard it was a country rife with corruption,
> nepotism, and occasional justice. Not enough objective reports, I presume.
>

No thats France..............

Jeez Roy dont sell your house and move to the med.
Teach everyone in our jails to speak French buy
apartment blocks in Paris and release them all to
live in apartment blocks with £200 pw allowance it
will be cheaper than prisons.
Rita Cultural Attache to Gay Paris

"Roy Lambert" <roy.lambert@skynet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:F1E0386A-CD10-44B4-B608-E29CD0EF7515@news.elevatesoft.com...
> Dominic
>
>
>
>>Pardon my French, but I hope Your Highness allows me to rate French food
>>on a slightly higher scale than yours. Snails included.
>
> Hmmm. I'll allow you to rate French food however you like as long as you
> don't require me to do the same I think faste in food is a personal
> preference and I HATE frogs legs. I dislike tomatoes and am allergic to
> cheese so that lets me off a vast amount of cuisine from anywhere in the
> world.
>
>>Europe is working quite well over here. Got the Euro yet?
>
> Nope and I know a "few" people in Europe who wish they hadn't <vbg>
>
> Roy Lambert

Dominic,

>>Approved the constitution yet?
>
> Yes.

You may have done but the French electorate didn't, haven't and most
likely won't.

> How can all this be achieved when we have this UK ball on chain to deal
> with? They can't even handle the very basics!

Basics? I would have thought that the Treaty of Rome was pretty 'basic'.
 Allow me to refresh your memory:

"ARTICLE 3
<snip>
(c) the abolition, as between Member States, of obstacles to freedom of
movement for persons, services and capital;
(d) the adoption of a common policy in the sphere of agriculture;
<snip>
(f) the institution of a system ensuring that competition in the common
market is not distorted;"

Which country is opposing the services directive (breach of 'c' and
'f'), refusing to allow free movement of workers (breach of 'c') and
refusing to allow CAP to be renegotiated with the participation of all
member states (breach of 'd' and 'f')?

> The EU is even subsidizing your silly royal family through farming
> subsidies. That's outrageously ridiculous.

The UK has 9% of the argicultural land in the EU and recieves 9% of CAP
funding. France has 17% of the agricultural land and gets 22% of CAP
funding. Throwing hed herrings like the Monarchy around can't change
those numbers.

> I'm really sorry, but I don't think you can shift anti-EU sentiment
> blame on Paris. Really.

I can assure you that from Poland, Lithuania and the rest of the 'East'
it is abundantly clear which countries are interested in the EU as a
principle and which are more concerned with parochial and nationalistic
issues. I find the French determination to undermine their influence in
the EU by alienating new members a bit perplexing, but c'est la vie

When a Polish Plumber can go and work in Paris as easily as he can in
London and when France agrees that a Latvian farmer should recieve the
same subsidies as a French one, then (and only then) will France have
got the 'basics' in order. There is no point in discussing who has
implemented what parts of Maastricht when Paris can't even implement the
1958 treaty yet.

Eryk

R. Tipton wrote:
> No thats France..............

Quite Francophobe, aren't you?