“EU skepticism on rise due to economy”

For those of us who stated that the EU was a rip-off since 1997, this is a good day. Did they expect that domestic production wouldn't be ruined by ratifying the SSA and making us dependent on companies that would rather invest elsewhere? We could make money off the EU and invest it in our own economy with S. Stream tax money but it's too early for that. In the meantime Europhilia will keep falling

This is the economic genius policy of the pro-EU government:
* In the post-Milosevic years to the end of 2003 (the year Djindjic was killed) the economy grew slightly less then 4%/year.
* In 2004-2006, when Kostunica had the most power in government and EU integration enthusiasm of the government sloved, economic growth was around 6.5% on average.
* In 2007-2008, where more pro-EU forces entered government and Kostunica essentially made Serbia persona non-grata in much of Brussels corridors of power, our economy on verage grew slightly less then in 2004-2006. The average for 2007-2008 include all quarters, so they indicate a lower umber due to the global economic criis in the last quarter.

Since 2008 our economy has declined and the dinar dropped by a huge amount. Granted these last two years there`s been global economic problems and the figures are scewed.

But still te pro-EU forces were claiming post-2000 that under them we would grow 10% peryear, then in 2004 tey were claiming Kostunica would cause a recesson, then in 2007 they were claiming that Kostunica`s anti-EU actions were hurting economic growth. It seems thy were wrong on every count.

When the economic crisis was happenning and occuringths is wat the pro-EU government did:
* They claimed the Dinar wul not declin more. They lie.
* They claimed Serbia would not face a recession. They lied.
* They lied on every economic indicator.

It seem the pro-EU foces are bad for Serbia economically. Evennow they claim,oh Serbia will grow 3% and then will go by more then 5% thereafter. However, they`ve been shown to be faild economists and liars. I believe more in the scenrio Ceda presented in his criticism of the prime minister in which our standard of living declines even more.

With the pro-EU government we have now all I see is worseing economics and more and more euroskepticism. If the Economic situaton is trly responsible for the rise of Euroskepticism.

Its already generally agreed that Serbia won`t be a EU candidate for 5 years. What Serbia needs to do is end this pro-EU government, elect people whose primarily motivation will be the economy and suspend all talk of EU integration for the next 4 or 5 years until our economy improves.

It seems the more pro-EU a party or governmet is the more incompetent they are at running the eonomy.

The reason why Euro/EU scepism is on a rise is simple and can be explained in a very shine example, Greece. Ever since the Fakelakis has been exposed and demanded to change their behaviour, everyone realized that the give-away times are gone. Now, you have to invest before you benefit, just as all of us has to invest before they can make use of the earnings. The EU has a lot of benefits, but it is not a charity club. The fact that the agricultural subsidies which were ridiciously high was for many EU newbies the primary incentive to join. That is why Spain was so vehemently against Poland.

Besides thos points, it is still much more preferable for the remaining non EU country to join, except for Norway and Switzerland of course, which would only lose when joining. For Serbia, however, I see currently zero chance to see that happen, due to failure to seize the war criminals and the unsolved disput with Kosovo. Croatia will be the last new EU country for a very long time.

It's clear the EU isn;t the heaven Tadic and his ilk make it out to be. It's clea people are fed up with politicians who wax poetically about the EU and how it is the solution to our problems.

Hopefully this leads to the election and rule of people who aren't of the mentality: do nothing just say EU his EU that, throw some measily money an lie about the glory of the EU?

Who is the person who can solve our problems ad rule differenly?

Sadly he hasn't appeared. It isn't Ceda, it definately isn't Dinkic, it isn't Tadic, it isn't anyonearound these men.And is no one with the rightwing oppositin.

Every current politician in Serbia is a curse for the country.

Hm, I am surprised that the guy at FPN(political science department) dared say something that is not in favor of immediate integration into the EU in every shape and form. The department is basically an outgrowth of LDP and DS parties all of whom have one goal - EU no matter what. Most professors at the uni have chosen to join political parties, and thus they are biased in their teachings as well. So it's interesting to hear this guy break ranks.

"The fact that the agricultural subsidies which were ridiciously high was for many EU newbies the primary incentive to join. That is why Spain was so vehemently against Poland.

Besides thos points, it is still much more preferable for the remaining non EU country to join, except for Norway and Switzerland of course, which would only lose when joining. For Serbia, however, I see currently zero chance to see that happen, due to failure to seize the war criminals and the unsolved disput with Kosovo. Croatia will be the last new EU country for a very long time.
JohnC

Excellent summerization. Yes, Croatia will be the last new EU country for a very long time. Most EU countries, including Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy want Croatia to join ASAP.

The NYTimes has an article today on the EU's problems - by trying to have an economic union without first having a political union, European countries can neither depend on each other for assistance (as in the US), or react in their own interest by devaluing their currency in a time of crisis (like totally independent countries). http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/magazine/16Europe-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=magazine

You can understand Chinese willingness to prop up struggling EU countries - even if they don't make a nice profit on 12.5% Greek bonds (in case of debt restructuring), they'll help to keep their largest market afloat as an outlet for Chinese goods.

Now most serbs do not want to join the EU. But since Serbia has some 15-20% minorities - their voice counts. So they tip the scales in voting and any sort of elections/surveys.

@Yaroslav

Numbers are skewed by the fact that in the Kostunca years, Serbia sold off it's entire tobacco industry.

Not saying that it's a bad thing that it did, just that that's going to pad the "economic growth" figures in those years.

"The NYTimes has an article today on the EU's problems - by trying to have an economic union without first having a political union, European countries can neither depend on each other for assistance (as in the US), or react in their own interest by devaluing their currency in a time of crisis (like totally independent countries)." (Amer)

-- I saw the same article this morning. One that lends a lot of credibility to the "democratic deficit" argument surrounding EU growth and expansion. Not to mention the abatement of any kind of national identity before regional.

"The fact that the agricultural subsidies which were ridiciously high was for many EU newbies the primary incentive to join. That is why Spain was so vehemently against Poland.

Besides thos points, it is still much more preferable for the remaining non EU country to join, except for Norway and Switzerland of course, which would only lose when joining. For Serbia, however, I see currently zero chance to see that happen, due to failure to seize the war criminals and the unsolved disput with Kosovo. Croatia will be the last new EU country for a very long time.
JohnC

Excellent summerization. Yes, Croatia will be the last new EU country for a very long time. Most EU countries, including Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy want Croatia to join ASAP.

The reason why Euro/EU scepism is on a rise is simple and can be explained in a very shine example, Greece. Ever since the Fakelakis has been exposed and demanded to change their behaviour, everyone realized that the give-away times are gone. Now, you have to invest before you benefit, just as all of us has to invest before they can make use of the earnings. The EU has a lot of benefits, but it is not a charity club. The fact that the agricultural subsidies which were ridiciously high was for many EU newbies the primary incentive to join. That is why Spain was so vehemently against Poland.

Besides thos points, it is still much more preferable for the remaining non EU country to join, except for Norway and Switzerland of course, which would only lose when joining. For Serbia, however, I see currently zero chance to see that happen, due to failure to seize the war criminals and the unsolved disput with Kosovo. Croatia will be the last new EU country for a very long time.

The NYTimes has an article today on the EU's problems - by trying to have an economic union without first having a political union, European countries can neither depend on each other for assistance (as in the US), or react in their own interest by devaluing their currency in a time of crisis (like totally independent countries). http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/magazine/16Europe-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=magazine

You can understand Chinese willingness to prop up struggling EU countries - even if they don't make a nice profit on 12.5% Greek bonds (in case of debt restructuring), they'll help to keep their largest market afloat as an outlet for Chinese goods.

For those of us who stated that the EU was a rip-off since 1997, this is a good day. Did they expect that domestic production wouldn't be ruined by ratifying the SSA and making us dependent on companies that would rather invest elsewhere? We could make money off the EU and invest it in our own economy with S. Stream tax money but it's too early for that. In the meantime Europhilia will keep falling

Now most serbs do not want to join the EU. But since Serbia has some 15-20% minorities - their voice counts. So they tip the scales in voting and any sort of elections/surveys.

"The NYTimes has an article today on the EU's problems - by trying to have an economic union without first having a political union, European countries can neither depend on each other for assistance (as in the US), or react in their own interest by devaluing their currency in a time of crisis (like totally independent countries)." (Amer)

-- I saw the same article this morning. One that lends a lot of credibility to the "democratic deficit" argument surrounding EU growth and expansion. Not to mention the abatement of any kind of national identity before regional.

@Yaroslav

Numbers are skewed by the fact that in the Kostunca years, Serbia sold off it's entire tobacco industry.

Not saying that it's a bad thing that it did, just that that's going to pad the "economic growth" figures in those years.

Hm, I am surprised that the guy at FPN(political science department) dared say something that is not in favor of immediate integration into the EU in every shape and form. The department is basically an outgrowth of LDP and DS parties all of whom have one goal - EU no matter what. Most professors at the uni have chosen to join political parties, and thus they are biased in their teachings as well. So it's interesting to hear this guy break ranks.

It's clear the EU isn;t the heaven Tadic and his ilk make it out to be. It's clea people are fed up with politicians who wax poetically about the EU and how it is the solution to our problems.

Hopefully this leads to the election and rule of people who aren't of the mentality: do nothing just say EU his EU that, throw some measily money an lie about the glory of the EU?

Who is the person who can solve our problems ad rule differenly?

Sadly he hasn't appeared. It isn't Ceda, it definately isn't Dinkic, it isn't Tadic, it isn't anyonearound these men.And is no one with the rightwing oppositin.

Every current politician in Serbia is a curse for the country.

This is the economic genius policy of the pro-EU government:
* In the post-Milosevic years to the end of 2003 (the year Djindjic was killed) the economy grew slightly less then 4%/year.
* In 2004-2006, when Kostunica had the most power in government and EU integration enthusiasm of the government sloved, economic growth was around 6.5% on average.
* In 2007-2008, where more pro-EU forces entered government and Kostunica essentially made Serbia persona non-grata in much of Brussels corridors of power, our economy on verage grew slightly less then in 2004-2006. The average for 2007-2008 include all quarters, so they indicate a lower umber due to the global economic criis in the last quarter.

Since 2008 our economy has declined and the dinar dropped by a huge amount. Granted these last two years there`s been global economic problems and the figures are scewed.

But still te pro-EU forces were claiming post-2000 that under them we would grow 10% peryear, then in 2004 tey were claiming Kostunica would cause a recesson, then in 2007 they were claiming that Kostunica`s anti-EU actions were hurting economic growth. It seems thy were wrong on every count.

When the economic crisis was happenning and occuringths is wat the pro-EU government did:
* They claimed the Dinar wul not declin more. They lie.
* They claimed Serbia would not face a recession. They lied.
* They lied on every economic indicator.

It seem the pro-EU foces are bad for Serbia economically. Evennow they claim,oh Serbia will grow 3% and then will go by more then 5% thereafter. However, they`ve been shown to be faild economists and liars. I believe more in the scenrio Ceda presented in his criticism of the prime minister in which our standard of living declines even more.

With the pro-EU government we have now all I see is worseing economics and more and more euroskepticism. If the Economic situaton is trly responsible for the rise of Euroskepticism.

Its already generally agreed that Serbia won`t be a EU candidate for 5 years. What Serbia needs to do is end this pro-EU government, elect people whose primarily motivation will be the economy and suspend all talk of EU integration for the next 4 or 5 years until our economy improves.

It seems the more pro-EU a party or governmet is the more incompetent they are at running the eonomy.