Post AXrJCttar2xiu6mWfo by copperred@mastodon.sdf.org
 (DIR) More posts by copperred@mastodon.sdf.org
 (DIR) Post #AXrIKIkKl7FQ39Ppmi by copperred@mastodon.sdf.org
       2023-07-19T17:01:29Z
       
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       If I had a dollar for every time someone said "In Europe" when they mean one tiny thing they encountered briefly on a visit of one or a few DIFFERENT COUNTRIES I'd be richer than Jeff Bezos.#ineurope
       
 (DIR) Post #AXrIKJg7IHT6wMRyqm by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
       2023-07-19T17:06:53Z
       
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       @copperred In Europe, or more correctly the Schengen Area, I found the ease of crossing internal borders refreshing, and wondered that it had only been thus for a quite brief time.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXrJCttar2xiu6mWfo by copperred@mastodon.sdf.org
       2023-07-19T17:16:58Z
       
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       @publius Schengen is a copy of the Nordic Passport Union which has existed since the 50s. The EU playing catch up is par for the course. They're still independent countries with their own policies and occasionally re-institute border controls as it suits them.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXrufwDizFyyoduJ9M by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
       2023-07-20T00:16:44Z
       
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       @copperred Of course the Nordic countries used to have a currency union and don't anymore.What the EU doesn't have, that REALLY brasses me off, is a postal union. Postage to any EU country, from any EU country, ought to be domestic, but it isn't. Historically, as with the German "Zollverein", customs and postal unions went hand-in-hand, and usually preceded a currency union.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXs2WggCCHzpdzKAHg by copperred@mastodon.sdf.org
       2023-07-20T01:44:36Z
       
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       @publius I don't know if there's a desire for a postal union, some countries, like Sweden, barely have a postal system. Some don't run it as a nonprofit, others as national interest. Denmark just scans your mail and emails you.The NPU still exists, if partially subsumed in Schengen, but both Faroes and Greenland aren't part of Schengen.The EU desperately wants a labor wage floor and other things and Denmark and Sweden would burn that down without flinching.