Happy Europe Day

[ivandebono]

Best wishes on 9th May to all Europeans, and non-Europeans alike.

[Zach R.]

What country do you live in?And,I never knew there was such a holiday such as Europe day.What does it celebrate?

[cut]

Celebrating the 'Schuman Declaration'
On the 9th May 1950, Robert Schuman presented his proposal for the creation of an organised Europe. This proposal, known as the “Schuman Declaration”, is considered to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.

Europe Day, which is celebrated each 9th May, is the occasion for activities and festivities that bring Europe closer to its citizens and peoples of the Union closer to one another.

[budanski]

Let the MAY DAY parades begin.......

[Loke]

http://www.haltenbanken.net/albums/Emoticons/adb.jpg

[Shadow]

EUROPE RULZ!!!!

[Diacat]

O I see,I do not know it before.

[Loke]

EUROPE RULZ!!!!

In what way?

[cut]

as a whole: wealth, armed forces, aid, manufacturing

in it's various nations: diplomacy, quality of troops, history, culture, manufacture also.

and so on..

that's why there som much potential if european countries can get together.

and to think for most of the countries other than the UK, you have the USaid to thank for that after WWII

oh and health, you must not forget health! :P

[Loke]

som much potential if european countries can get together.


It will never happen dude. Too many beurocrats, bribing on high level, dishonesty, lying, hostility between countries and general lack of the big $'s prevents the european nations getting any serious relations going.

[cut]

yes but europe day is about the european union so I was answering that point, and a charismatic leader for the european union could bring the countries together.

as for the bribing in the EU I'm afraid your confusing with the "I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine" politics of the united states senate.

[Loke]

No, I was refering to the large scale bribing that's been going on in Italy, France, Belgium and Spain recently.

[cut]

BELGIUM? really there like the nerdiest kid in the class, you know teachers pet and all. Do you have any links?

[Loke]

Just do a search on the net.

[cut]

hell no, I'm not going to disproove my own point :P

okay there's no denying about italy I mean there president is on trial at the moment. as for france and belgium, that sounds a bit like pre-gulf war 2 international bitching and Spain is new to me. But if you are going to make these claims out of the blue, back them up.

[Loke]

Are you going to make me?

[cut]

no if you dont it makes things easier for me because I don't believe you.

[Loke]

That's your problem, not mine.

[cut]

I had a quick check on google news

belgium had nothing
spain had nothing
france was linked to dodgy dealings with elf but there is no evidence of them taking bribes
although the italian president is on trial there no suggestion of bribes there

so were these unresearched false accusations or pre-war anti-european press hype?

[He219]

Cut worte:
and to think for most of the countries other than the UK, you have the USaid to thank for that after WWII
:cantbeli:
..Most countries other than the UK..The UK was not a recipient of the Marshall Plan? I believe the conditions in the UK were just as bad as on the European Continent. Look it up....... http://www.marshallfoundation.org/about_gcm/marshall_plan.htm

The Europen Unions is such a great example of working together, unlike the Union of States in America....

p-)
He 219

[Loke]

So you haven't learned to use a search engine yet have you?
A quick search produced this. If I had the interest I could find a bunch more.
http://www.iht.com/IHT/BJ/98/bj122498.html
http://www.wsws.org/public_html/prioriss/iwb12-2/child.htm

Belgium is also to be found in the "not so un-bribable" category on the CPI 2002 complements TI's Bribe Payers Index, along with France and Spain.

[cut]

Most countries other than the UK..The UK was not a recipient of the Marshall Plan? I believe the conditions in the UK were just as bad as on the European Continent
:cantbeli: well the amount I've written on here I'm bound to make mistake and I have the decency to admit them.

[cut]

So you haven't learned to use a search engine yet have you?
A quick search produced this. If I had the interest I could find a bunch more.
http://www.iht.com/IHT/BJ/98/bj122498.html
http://www.wsws.org/public_html/prioriss/iwb12-2/child.htm

Belgium is also to be found in the "not so un-bribable" category on the CPI 2002 complements TI's Bribe Payers Index, along with France and Spain.


Searched the web for american senate bribes. Results 1 - 10 of about 15,000. Search took 0.30 seconds

Searched the web for american government bribes. Results 1 - 10 of about 63,500. Search took 0.25 seconds.


...need I say more?

[Loke]

What has it got to do with anything? We were discussing the reasons why Europe will never be properly united.
We all know this stuff happens in the rest of the world too, jeeez :|

[cut]

the US is united isn't it?

[Loke]

Yes, I believe we all know that.
And Soviet ended being united. Would you care to elaborate a bit?

[cut]

Fine despite posting about it for a page, bribing won't stop there being an EU getting closer once the US stops screwing about with it.
Tony Blair's proposed european president is the one thing I believe can set thing s in motion.

[Loke]

Ok, fine. You go ahead and have a great unification.
European President...ring a familiar bell? :roll:

[cut]

we will thanks

[budanski]

Transparency International
2002 Corruption Perceptions Index
Johann Graf Lambsdorff

Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), now in its eighth year of publication, has since its inception facilitated research into the causes and consequences of corruption.

This year, as in previous years, its methodology has again been improved. The CPI aggregates the perceptions of well-informed people with regard to the extent of corruption, defined as the misuse of public power for private benefit. The extent of corruption reflects the frequency of corrupt payments, the value of bribes paid and the resulting obstacle imposed on businesses.

This year's CPI used data collected between 2000 and 2002. The CPI is a composite index. Altogether 15 data sources were used in the 2002 CPI, from nine different institutions: the World Economic Forum, the World Business Environment Survey of the World Bank, the Institute of Management Development (in Lausanne), PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (in Hong Kong), the Economist Intelligence Unit, Columbia University, Gallup International on behalf of Transparency International, and Freedom House's Nations in Transit.

The strength of the CPI lies in the combination of multiple data sources in a single index, which increases the reliability of each individual score. The benefit of combining data in this manner is that erratic findings from one source can be balanced by the inclusion of at least two other sources, lowering the probability of misrepresenting a country's level of corruption.

The CPI index provides an annual snapshot of the views of decision-makers.

2002 Corruption Perceptions Index

Rank and Country (Best to worst)
1 Finland
2 Denmark
3 New Zealand
4 Iceland
5 Singapore
6 Sweden
7 Canada
8 Luxembourg
9 Netherlands
10 United Kingdom
11 Australia
12 Norway
13 Switzerland
14 Hong Kong
15 Austria
16 United States
17 Chile
18 Germany
19 Israel
20 Belgium
21 Japan
22 Spain
23 Ireland
24 Botswana
25 France

http://www.noisedesignlab.com/buddy/corrupt.jpg

source:Global Corruption Report 2003, Transparency International
http://www.globalcorruptionreport.org/download/gcr2003/24_Data_and_research.pdf

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Yes...Shame there aren't any french on this site to defend their country.

[shaky]

Why would independent countries want to be part of a unified Europe? I am having trouble understanding this.

[Loke]

I have no idea. If Norway ever become a full EU member and change the norwegian krone currency with the rather homo****** looking euro, I would probably kill myself.
I say BAH to the whole EU crap.