Comment by saaaaaam
17 hours ago
In Europe people generally use “Europe” and the EU interchangeably.
I’m not sure many people would include Russia in Europe in normal speech, unless they were a geographer in which case Russia is partly “Europe” in some cases I think.
Even when the UK was part of the EU if someone in the UK said “Europe” they meant continental Europe and someone in continental Europe would be unlikely to mean the UK if they said Europe unless they were using “Europe” as a shorthand for the EU. When the UK was in the EU a United States American saying Europe would probably not not be including the UK in their mental model of Europe and, indeed [0], might not be very clear on what the UK actually is, because that’s confusing for the countries they agglomerate into “England” which might also include Ireland. A United States American saying “Europe” most likely means “Paris” and then maybe France, Italy, Spain or Greece but probably not Germany which is definitely the EU and everything that is wrong with the EU. But maybe Switzerland, because that very European.
As a European I’m not even sure where Serbia is, or if it’s even a real country [1]. I thought it was capital of Albania [2] . Or possibly a region of North Macedonia [3]
[0] only some of what I have said should be taken even part way seriously. Very little in fact
[1] Obviously being satirical here
[2,3] Also real countries, also European, but not necessarily “Europe” and definitely not EU. Yet.
> In Europe people generally use “Europe” and the EU interchangeably.
In Europe some people generally and incorrectly use "Europe" and the EU interchangeably. Europe existed far before the EU and will continue to exist after the EU finally comes to an end.
> Europe existed far before the EU and will continue to exist after the EU finally comes to an end.
First clause: indisputable.
Second clause: maybe, maybe not. Europe hasn't always existed as a concept, and its longevity is unknown.
> Europe hasn't always existed as a concept, and its longevity is unknown.
Europe is the name of a continent. What reason(s) would there be to change the name of a continent?
In contrast, the EU is a trading block, set up to foster greater pan-European trading relations. It's not the only pan-European institution. For example, the Council of Europe ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe ) is a separate pan-European institution, set up in 1946 which was before the EU or any of the predecessors of the EU, and amongst other projects was behind the formation of the European Court of Human Rights. I bring this up to highlight that we do not need the EU in order to have collaboration between European countries.
I think you maybe missed my footnotes.
Even if you did/did not, vernacular evolves. So at the time that you fervently hope the EU comes to its (clearly deserved, Mr Putin) end, I imagine people will be able to adapt their wrong speak and clearly incorrect thinking to ensure they adhere to the newspeak.
> at the time that you fervently hope the EU comes to its (clearly deserved, Mr Putin) end
I find it funny you think the only reason people would want the end of the EU is if they're a Russian agent. The EU has very little to do with defence. Perhaps your argument would hold more weight if talking about NATO, but even then it's not necessary for countries to be members of NATO in order to collaborate on protection when their collective security interests align.
I’m sure many thought the same about the United States of America when it was founded.
I guess the difference is the founding of the EU didn’t require multiple genocidal slaughters.
Oh, wait.
« As a European I’m » – So what country do you hail from? I understand it's not Serbia. Just so this wild nonsense and wannabe satire can have proper geographic attribution. (Because despite there being a strong indidivual factor, the systems governing some countries do breed certain mental dispositions.)
> In Europe people generally use “Europe” and the EU interchangeably.
We do not.
OK! Your generalisation definitely beats mine.
> In Europe people generally use “Europe” and the EU interchangeably.
I guess you don't wander out of your office in Brussels much.
Oh sweetheart. The real looney Eurocrats like us don’t even leave Strasbourg. Brussels is filthy.