Current Affairs EU In or Out

[Bruce Wayne]

There is a Global slowdown, everybody are lowering their forecasts including the EU. The U.K. has just done similar. These actions will put us back on track and faster.

If taxes are cut that doesn’t mean that the tax take is reduced, you know this....

It will be portrayed as such though.

 

[Bluerover]

If it's an area you have experience in, I know I would be really interested in your opinion on the food-related stuff in the document, as I'm sure other regular visitors to this thread would be.

In a nutshell all EU MSs and some others in EEA agree to comply with the Food and Feed Hygiene Regs - known as the Hygiene Package.

Every food or feed business operator is subject to regular inspections by the competent authority in each country. There is a permanent veterinary presence at all slaughtering plants during slaughter.

Once an FBO is approved it is given an approval number which it applies to all produce in an oval mark (or oval carcase stamp). The mark contains EC the number and the country letter code UK in your case. IE for Ireland, DE Germany etc.

If an FBO is found non-compliant there are consequences from minor right up to possible loss of approval.

All countries that operate these Regs can also expect regular EU audits which include inspections of approved premises.

The system is very strict and as a result there are relatively few food or feed incidents given the massive amount of production across the EU/EEA. When there is an incident it usually gets a lot of publicity with subsequent reputational damage to the FBO and possibly to the country of origin.

UK appears to be continuing with an oval mark and UK approval system. It remains to be seen if they continue to apply the same level of rigour to their regulation of FBOs and what level of independent audit will be applied in order to give assurances to consumers at home and abroad.

My sense is that the new UK oval mark without the EU regulatory assurances may have difficulties when it arrives on European shelves beside EU approved product.

That is before consideration of possible price differential due to tariffs.

Next time you buy meat check packaging for oval mark or, if fresh from a counter, the supplier should have clearly on display the details of the approved FBO that probided the fresh meat being sold.

These regs are in my view a very worthwhile and necessary bureaucratic evil to safeguard human health.

There are also reams of EU animal welfare regs that are important.

 

[orchard]

In a nutshell all EU MSs and some others in EEA agree to comply with the Food and Feed Hygiene Regs - known as the Hygiene Package.

Every food or feed business operator is subject to regular inspections by the competent authority in each country. There is a permanent veterinary presence at all slaughtering plants during slaughter.

Once an FBO is approved it is given an approval number which it applies to all produce in an oval mark (or oval carcase stamp). The mark contains EC the number and the country letter code UK in your case. IE for Ireland, DE Germany etc.

If an FBO is found non-compliant there are consequences from minor right up to possible loss of approval.

All countries that operate these Regs can also expect regular EU audits which include inspections of approved premises.

The system is very strict and as a result there are relatively few food or feed incidents given the massive amount of production across the EU/EEA. When there is an incident it usually gets a lot of publicity with subsequent reputational damage to the FBO and possibly to the country of origin.

UK appears to be continuing with an oval mark and UK approval system. It remains to be seen if they continue to apply the same level of rigour to their regulation of FBOs and what level of independent audit will be applied in order to give assurances to consumers at home and abroad.

My sense is that the new UK oval mark without the EU regulatory assurances may have difficulties when it arrives on European shelves beside EU approved product.

That is before consideration of possible price differential due to tariffs.

Next time you buy meat check packaging for oval mark or, if fresh from a counter, the supplier should have clearly on display the details of the approved FBO that probided the fresh meat being sold.

These regs are in my view a very worthwhile and necessary bureaucratic evil to safeguard human health.

There are also reams of EU animal welfare regs that are important.

Red tape wielding eu loving traitor x

 

[Bluerover]

Red tape wielding eu loving traitor x

Well as I am Irish and live in Ireland, the traitor bit doesn't really arise!!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Well as I am Irish and live in Ireland, the traitor bit doesn't really arise!!

I hope you have a proper Irish name.

 

[Bluerover]

I hope you have a proper Irish name.

Probably not as Irish as Pete but it is a very old Irish surname meaning son of the lord.

We must have had a few bob and a bit of land a couple of thusand years ago!!

 

[tsubaki]

Additionally, you are reiterating a point I have raised many times, in that a powerful EU army would also threaten Russia. Just what we need, another level of paranoia in Moscow.......

That is a bit of an odd argument for someone who keeps banging on about national security to make.

If there was a genuine and effective EU armed force, the Russians around Putin would be concerned (and they would be right to be, as the real weakness of the Russian position would be exposed) - but I don’t think the Russians as a whole would be.

In fact having a vibrant, rich and powerful collection of nations in the border would be much more likely to get a post-Putin leader to try to join it.

 

[abelard]

Indeed. A hypothetical pan-EU armed force formed tomorrow from current EU members (including us) would have slightly more active members than the US armed forces have (around 1.3 million, though that includes the quasi-police units in Italy and France), around half the funding the US armed forces have (so more than the Russians and the Chinese) and have the second most powerful navy in the world. After 10-20 years of consolidation (so that equipment was standardized, training was brought up to the level of the best forces and they were all taught the same language) the force would be considerably more effective than it would be on day one.

You can see why so many of the Atlanticists are against the idea; the people who pay them really do not want a rival - which is what an EU force really would be.

The best thing about this, not least in light of Brexit, is that by far the fastest and most effective way for them to consolidate would be to make English the working language

 

[JammyP]

Sorry, I can’t be arsed reading wiki......

That's why I gave you the good bits. Always better to be well informed before making important decisions about the nation's future. Oh.....

 

[JammyP]

That is a bit of an odd argument for someone who keeps banging on about national security to make.

If there was a genuine and effective EU armed force, the Russians around Putin would be concerned (and they would be right to be, as the real weakness of the Russian position would be exposed) - but I don’t think the Russians as a whole would be.

In fact having a vibrant, rich and powerful collection of nations in the border would be much more likely to get a post-Putin leader to try to join it.

Obviously we would be much better set to take on the Russians on our own.

 

[Jebus_lives]

Probably not as Irish as Pete but it is a very old Irish surname meaning son of the lord.

We must have had a few bob and a bit of land a couple of thusand years ago!!

Funny that Pete, who gives so much stock to a name and how it influences affiliation, has 'one of the oldest Irish names' yet considers himself qualified to talk on behalf of UK interests.

 

[Ruairi77]

think I found Pete on Twitter

 

[dwightschrute]

Would be more than happy to keep our dead language to ourselves, gain independence and leave England and Westminster to it

 

[Tubey]

think I found Pete on Twitter

I actually agree with that... sort of.

There's little to no economic benefit to learning Welsh, and school is meant to teach and prepare you for later life. Learning a language that has a very limited receptive audience is a waste of time that could be better spent on other things.

It should be optional and/or taught at home. I actually see the Welsh governments proposal as being nationalist, which is ironic given that it's clearly an English nationalist who has wrote that tweet in response.

Where I disagree is the way he's phrased it - and the fact he clearly has limited knowledge of the subject matter and has approached it from the angle of English superiority. As in the country, not the language.

 

[peteblue]

That's why I gave you the good bits. Always better to be well informed before making important decisions about the nation's future. Oh.....

Do you believe Wiki is 100% correct ?....