Re: I wasn't talking about appearances that were created for the benefit of the world and the participant countries; I am talking about the reality.
And the reality is that Britain doesn't belong to the eurozone, clings to her pound sterling and has NO say in the Frankfurt-based ECB as regards EU monetary policy.... Ditto with Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The reality is that Britain is no longer an industrial powerhouse(*), British elites just sold out each and every industrial crown jewel --from car manufacturers(**) to public utilities (water,...). They've bet everything on oil (BP) and finance (the City). Meanwhile, France is the EU's second largest economy after Germany. And I suspect Italy would be third were it not for the British pound's undue exchange rate....
(*) tutor2u.net
(**) news.bbc.co.uk
Re: ...a good portion of Germany's development and some of the UK's was strongly influenced by Nordic tribesmen.
Bottomline: the reality is that mostly northern Europe rules the EU.
LOL! Most of Europe's greatest achievements were accomplished by Southern Europe... 16th-century Spain, Renaissance Italy, Classical France, 18th-century Austria, that is, as far as arts (music, paintings), philosophy, literature, are concerned. Not to mention Hellenic Greece and Ancient Rome. It's because France and Germany were continuously at each other's throat in the 18th century that Britain could so easily scoop the pool of faraway colonies (read "1759" by Frank McLynn). Somehow, Britain enjoyed her Warholian century of fame from 1850 to 1950....
Gus |
