Well, at least he has woken up now and has come to his senses

In the US they just seized TikTok because they didn’t like it, being under Chinese control.

Why don’t we just do the same to X in the EU? It must make sense in their minds… orrrr??

Bit surprising tbh. Guess the machine must have been broken or something.

I live in NL and thus frequent AH. I can literally pay with any (virtual) debit and/or credit card incl Revolut. They accept it all.

AH is also the largest supermarket in NL, especially in the most touristic places of NL, it would be surprising if they wouldn’t facilitate internationals paying at their stores. They would lose out on millions per year.

In any case looking forward to Wero as well.

If you want to create a car battery, you need to extract critical minerals from the ground, then refine them and produce a battery. European countries hold deposits of these minerals; we won’t extract them, nor refine them, because mining these minerals and refining them is considered to be pollutive. Guess what, in China, Indonesia, and elsewhere this is probably even more pollutive given they simply won’t give a flying fuck how they extract and refine because it needs to be low cost. European consumer happily buy the batteries though - no questions asked because the low price is amazing, right? This is just one example where we destroy our own economy and economic position just so we can sit a moral high ground and think we have been so green.

We are so focused on shooting ourselves in the foot, legs and the critical organs, all so we can remain on the moral high ground.

Our children are so fucked. To fill the gaps of the failing policy, then loosing economic power, we will start borrowing vast amounts of debt on country level to keep the economy running. After 10-15 years the debt levels will be astronomical and we are economically finished. Hope you enjoy the green policy while it lasts.

To be transparant; myself I am investing heavily in sustainable elements. House energy neutral, driving electric car which is partially charged with solar. All from European products as far as possible (meaning car battery is most likely not European even though the car is). I am just noticing alotof people scream they want to go green and force others to do it, not putting their money where their mouth is. Makes me go nuts. Even if you tone down the green policy; forcing regulation and costs on companies, we should just let the economy do its job. Not with its hands tied to mountains of regulation. Once they are competitive again I am sure we have room to invest in sustainable energy. Instead of rules first. This does not make any sense economically

It baggers my belief how many of you are actively advocating to destroy Europe’s largest and most important economy in favour of Chinese and US businesses, who ABSOLUTELY WILL polute to its fullest potential to ensure it can provide YOU with the products and services you want at the lowest possible price. It will even subsidize and incentive pollution to ensure low pricing.

This way European businesses will die out with EU’s green policies as it cannot compete. Once that happens the old American and Chinese models come to life; seizing that duopoly position and squeeze you while it is benefiting and polluting. You will have absolute no control over it then. With which you seem to have absolutely no problem apparently.

It is so short sited in this chat I want to believe these are not European nationals…

Keep buying your Chinese and American crap and promote pollution in action, but in words you absolutely will deviate from it.

Set a vision for the EU, where do we want to win.

1. Encourage entrepreneurship (fiscally and loosen regulatory pressure)
2. Harmonise and integrate European financial markets
3. Encourage (fiscally) public and institutions to invest into European companies, small and large

These three together should get our future back on track, and make us prosperous again. Other less urgent focus areas:

lower energy costs and improve the net, share the burden and energy between countries Improve train transportation between countries (nice to have) Increase barriers to entry for non productive, non skilled migrants. Increase fines and deductions from European fund distributions to European countries that completely disobey and try to demolish the union from the inside (Hungary)