Given that
- we like this sort of thing,
- Dr North has been frothing at the mouth as he rails against our general ignorance on matters European and appalling flippancy whenever we have the temerity to comment on the topic (getting it all wrong due to our appalling ignorance - see above) and
- He might actually have a point, given the comments in this article,
The Schengen and NATO overlays make it a little messy, but who ever said European politics was supposed to be simple?
UPDATE: Thank you MatGB - Croatia added, to EU Wannabes, but NOT to NATO.
9 comments:
You missed Croatia from the accession countries. Beyond that, rather good, if a little ugly.
MatGB,
Croatia: ooohh! That's an interesting one: it's the only current EU wannabe that is NOT a member of NATO. A very good spot.
"rather good, if a little ugly"
I think there is a certain amount of poetic, if not natural, justice to that...
I am working on a more circularly circular sort of Venn Diagrammy venn diagram, but rounded rectangles seemed to be easier to manipulate than pure circles.
PG
France is a member of NATO (or OTAN, as they perversely call it), though they stand outside the military structure or something (possibly defeating the object of being a member). Maybe a dotted line, or a lighter shade for them?
I don't believe you've got Switzerland right. I don't think it is a Schengen member - you have to show your passport at the border to al neighbouring countries (unless the customs folks are having lunch or otherwise occupied).
I do believe the Dingus is correct, Switzerland is not a Schengen member, and students from there still need bloody intro letters to get in and study with us as well.
Also old bean, you've missed the Council of Europe completely. If'n you are going to redo it, including that might be fun. There's only, what, 51 membersand a huge number of observers?
Dirty Dingus and MatGB
I think you may be right.
"In addition, an association agreement has been concluded with Iceland and Norway, two countries which apply the Schengen provisions completely. In July 2002, negotiations began in view of associating Switzerland, which wants to participate in the Schengen acquis."
And it is perfectly possible that my source is wrong.
Wikipedia (for it is he) suggests that Switzerland IS a member (no sniggering at the back there MatGB), but has not yet implemented the agreement.
Given that they quote the dates of signing and of the ratification by referendum, I'll stand by my interpretation on the basis of sheer bloody cussedness.
"Also old bean, you've missed the Council of Europe completely. If'n you are going to redo it, including that might be fun. There's only, what, 51 membersand a huge number of observers? "
And I haven't stuck in NATO's "partnership for peace" either.
The fact that no less than four Eurozone countries are not part of NATO is I think quite interesting in itself, and I don't want to blur that little nugget.
Which brings me to Judge. Quite so, but France's attitude to NATO is much like their attitude to the rest of the world in general. They want to reap the benefits and they want to control what it does and how it does it, but are damned if they are actually going to get stuck in and contribute to the hard work to accrue said benefits.
So, with apologies to Emily for pre-empting the Friday FUCK OFF thread, they can FUCK OFF.
But in general, Judge and Dirty Dingus: Welcome to Infinitives Unsplit. Nice to have you on board.
PG
Have you considered joining the Eurosceptic group at Serf's?
Its an excellent diagram, but I am worrişed that it might confuse the uninitiated even more.
Can't agree here with Serf. Think it's more than clear and it's been much commneted on around the blogosphere.
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