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Comment by raxxorraxor | Hacker News Reader

The EU has a problem with a lack of legitimisation of the whole political construct and other power players know about this weakness. The degree of freedom in political decision is strongly inhibited.

This wouldn't solve any problems either, on the contrary. Personally I don't feel like a EU citizen. It is like being a citizen of a bureaucratic monster that serves no specific function. That tries to justify its existence not through being a guardian of common values, but a bureaucracy of not-quite-experts.

I genuinely wonder about people that feel patriotic about the EU. I have nothing against them, I just don't want to share the same house.

Orban was someone to point the finger to for what feels like decades. To see this result and extract a mission to extend EU powers is delusional in my opinion.

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I think the EU is just a bunch of countries in a trenchcoat. The main reason for this is the lack of mobility between countries. Each country has its own language, and more importantly social security, benefits, taxes, and the properties are much more expensive compared to salaries than pretty much anywhere in the world.

So either you're a long term renter with locked in low rates, or own an apt, so you have very little incentive to move. People who do move usually come from a poorer part to a richer part, and once in their lives, or they move to a warmer country like Spain when they retire.

There are a lot of upsides to being in the EU.

It's so much easier to move aroud, both for short term travel and longer term too. The common currency (at least in most countries) really helps as do things like no roaming charges. If you decide you want to go and look for a job in another country you just do it, no visa hassle or asking permissions.

I was born in the UK and moved to France (long before Brexit thank goodness) it would have been much harder without the EU.

I certainly consider myself a EU citizen, more than British or French (I now have both nationalities).

Of course it's not perfect but getting rid of individual coutry vetoes would help with a lot of things in the wider geopolicital sphere - and has already been done in many domains)

Moving around easily and not having to show your passport is often an argument for the advantages. In reality this is more or less completely insignificant, even if you do travel a lot. Some bureaucratic barriers changing nationalities aren't relevant in contrast to what the EU brings to the table.

Meanwhile, while people can vote for an inhibited parliament, it is far too removed from the average citizen that neither knows the people they are voting for, nor can they probably understand them.

VdL would have never been successful if people understood what she was saying or had said in the past. It is a democratic circus and a clear symptom.

What EU country are you from? For me there where mostly upsides of being in the EU. Free travel, better consumer legislation, more invidual rights and protections, etc.

There could also hardly be a worse representative than von der Leyen. She is the perfect example of an incredibly unpopular and even incapable (she did terribly as the German minister of defense) but cunning career politician who SOMEHOW made it to a top position in the EU.

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