EU birth certificates

[Essex Lad]

According to a story in tomorrow's Daily Mail, we will be forced to have the EU flag on birth, marriage and death certificates instead of the Royal crown.

The headline reads: "Stamped with the EU flag from cradle to grave: Brussels replaces royal crest on UK birth certificates with euro logo - against ministers' wishes".

Except... except... if you actually read the story, you will see that people can choose to have a certificate from their own country or one of the EU certs.

The Mail even admits: "For now, these will be available alongside national certificates, so parents will be able to ask for either a British certificate or a European one.

"The idea is to make it easier for migrants to move around Europe.

"Brussels has not yet demanded that EU certificates become compulsory, but Mr Pickles said it was only a matter of time."

We all know how reputable the Tories are when it comes to promises...

[cockneygeezer2009]

Well at least you read the whole article.
Most thick and generally prejudiced people against the EU read the headline and moan about the EU doing this and that when generally it's a load of bollocks or untrue and they haven't got the where with all to realise certain papers have an agenda and print crap.

[Sam Slater]

[quote]Most thick and generally prejudiced people against the EU read the headline and moan about the EU doing this and that when generally it's a load of bollocks[/quote]

And the Daily Mail knows it's readers.....the headline was enough.

[Essex Lad]

Having said that (and here I risk the wrath of certain left-wingers), I don't doubt that the plan is to replace national certificates in the fullness of time.

We have an EU flag on our driving licences after all. I would guestimate that 95% of us never drive on the continent yet that little flag is there.

And what better way to "ever closer union" than for uniformity in certification?

[Bob Singleton]

Essex Lad wrote:

> Having said that (and here I risk the wrath of certain
> left-wingers), I don't doubt that the plan is to replace
> national certificates in the fullness of time.
>
> We have an EU flag on our driving licences after all. I would
> guestimate that 95% of us never drive on the continent yet that
> little flag is there.
>
> And what better way to "ever closer union" than for uniformity
> in certification?


The EU flag on the driving licence is there for a very mundane reason, and you really shouldn't get too paranoid about it.

Many countries within the EU require non-EU drivers to have an international driving licence. The EU flag on our driving licence just makes it easier for local plods to know that (in our case) a British driving licence is all that's required to drive in their country. With so many different countries in the EU now, having the EU flag makes sense, rather than the local plod having to remember which countries are members and which aren't.

[David Johnson]

Or maybe not.

I thought the Tories wanted to cut red tape?

More Tory provided sleeping tablets for the willing takers amongst the British electorate.

[frankthring]

As Bob Singleton and Essex Lad have pointed out - there is nothing sinister
about EEC emblems on such things as driving licences or birth certificates.
And lets remember folks, the UK signed up to be a member. You don`t
join an exclusive club and pick the bits you like. You accept the whole or
you don`t join.
For years I have been unable to understand why the thought of the euro
worries readers of the Mail. As someone who constantly travels around
Europe its bloody marvellous I don`t have to keep changing guilden or
French francs to Belgian francs or ruddy deutschmarks any more !! People
seem unaware that a British euro coin could have the Queen`s head on one
side and there is no loss of prestige.
The right wing British Press demonise Brussels and the EEC to a dreadful
extent in UK. Yes, the EEC makes stupid decisions sometimes, but then so
do all Parliaments including the one at Westminister ! No Club is perfect !
Britain could take a major role in running Europe and acting as a brake on
the power & policies of Germany and France. Instead, Cameron prefers to
whine and fumble and make the rest of Europe think the Brits are just
moaning wankers.

[David Johnson]

"For years I have been unable to understand why the thought of the euro
worries readers of the Mail."

Well the thought of the euro worries me never mind the Mail.

And it worries much of the populations of Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus because they have lost control over their own economies in the sense that unlike Britain they cannot for example, devalue in order to make themselves more competitive in terms of exports.

You only have to look at the Lib Dems and the fervent support they used to have for joining the euro and the way in which they have backed away from this policy to realise the euro and the EU Central Bank has been a disaster for many of the EU countries saddled with the euro

[Essex Lad]

frankthring wrote:


Yes, the EEC makes stupid decisions sometimes,
> but then so
> do all Parliaments including the one at Westminister !

Yes and when they make mistakes we can vote them out and vote in the next lot of mistake makers. You can't vote out the Brussels bureaucrats. No one elected Herman van Rumpuy or Baroness Ashton.


> Britain could take a major role in running Europe and acting
> as a brake on
> the power & policies of Germany and France.

Do you really think that is true? That's exactly what every British PM from Thatcher onwards has claimed ? that we need to be in Europe to be able to influence policies and that because we are in the EU that we do have influence on decisions being made. I don't see many examples of this. Remember Blair? He said that he wanted to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, which benefits French farmers. What did the French say? Give up a large part of your rebate and we will think about it. So Blair said okay. The French said, "D'accord we have thought about it. We're not going to reform the CAP." That kind of influence I could do without. The EU is and always has been a Franco-German stitch-up.

[Robches]

I'm afraid I can't take very seriously the views of someone who thinks there is still such a body as the "EEC".