European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread - Page 748

On April 04 2017 04:00 bardtown wrote:
The funniest thing is NL beating Germany. Why? Because they're closer? Feels like a lack of ambition to me.

On April 04 2017 04:02 LightSpectra wrote:


Revenge for 1688?

On April 04 2017 08:36 lastpuritan wrote:
https://twitter.com/FreeThinker2030/status/848609864427483136

What sort of people you are? This is hilarious. Old Brits are treasure to this world.

On April 04 2017 09:59 Nyxisto wrote:
glad that we've reached the "fight me irl" stage of Europe two days after the Brexit negotiations have started lol. Mitterand's 'nationalism is war' was no hyperbole. I'm sure there'll be some point in the future where people will recognise this role of the European Union again.

On April 04 2017 10:07 bardtown wrote:
What an idiotic comment. The EU caused this by giving Spain a veto over the situation of a territory which it has not had any say in for 300 years. The people of this territory rejected Spanish co-sovereignty by 99%. If anything it is another illustration of how little the EU cares about democracy. It is antagonistic and bullying.

Background:
Strategically important, Gibraltar was reluctantly ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the British garrison was formally declared a colony in 1830. In a referendum held in 1967, Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency. The subsequent granting of autonomy in 1969 by the UK led Spain to close the border and sever all communication links. Between 1997 and 2002, the UK and Spain held a series of talks on establishing temporary joint sovereignty over Gibraltar. In response to these talks, the Gibraltar Government called a referendum in late 2002 in which the majority of citizens voted overwhelmingly against any sharing of sovereignty with Spain. Since late 2004, Spain, the UK, and Gibraltar have held tripartite talks with the aim of cooperatively resolving problems that affect the local population, and work continues on cooperation agreements in areas such as taxation and financial services; communications and maritime security; policy, legal and customs services; environmental protection; and education and visa services. Throughout 2009, a dispute over Gibraltar's claim to territorial waters extending out three miles gave rise to periodic non-violent maritime confrontations between Spanish and UK naval patrols and in 2013, the British reported a record number of entries by Spanish vessels into waters claimed by Gibraltar following a dispute over Gibraltar's creation of an artificial reef in those waters. A new noncolonial constitution came into effect in 2007, and the European Court of First Instance recognized Gibraltar's right to regulate its own tax regime in December 2008. The UK retains responsibility for defense, foreign relations, internal security, and financial stability.
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On April 04 2017 10:07 bardtown wrote:
What an idiotic comment. The EU caused this by giving Spain a veto over the situation of a territory which it has not had any say in for 300 years. The people of this territory rejected Spanish co-sovereignty by 99%. If anything it is another illustration of how little the EU cares about democracy. It is antagonistic and bullying.

On April 04 2017 16:00 xM(Z wrote:
if UK gets to keep it(as is) and closes the strait(or randomly asks for new tariffs) for EU bound shipping/trading ...

Europe and Africa are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.3 km; 8.9 mi) of ocean at the strait's narrowest point.
(...)
The Strait [of Gibraltar] lies mostly within the territorial waters of Spain and Morocco, except for at the far eastern end. The United Kingdom (through Gibraltar) claims 3 nautical miles around Gibraltar putting part of the Strait inside British territorial waters, and the smaller-than-maximal claim also means that part of the Strait therefore lies in international waters according to the British claim. However, the ownership of Gibraltar and its territorial waters is disputed by Spain, meanwhile Morocco dispute the far extern end (of Ceuta).