American Reacts to The European Union Explained 

Don't worry, man. Nobody here in Europe gets that stuff to its full extent. I can travel and choose the country I want to live in freely. That's all I have to know.

American:"this is confusing" European:"yes and it's great"

One thing that people don't often think about when it comes to European Union, is that we are talking about a continent that have spend 100's of years at war with each other, so to suddenly give up all the borders within is pretty huge.

I’m from Sweden and it still amazes me when I cross “borders” riding my motorcycle - I pass a sign and that’s it, I’m in a new country, another culture, another history, other food. It’s frickin’ awesome.

Traveling in the Eu is extremely pleasant. You don't need a passport, just your driver's license or ID card. I once drove from Germany to Spain by car and was stopped only once. The policeman looked at my identity card, looked at me and said :'' Oh a German, have fun on your vacation''. This little plastic card really opens every door here. The same counts for airports. 27 countries that you can just travel to without visas or specific permits. Sometimes it is almost too good to be true.

I'm Czech and this saturday I went to Vienna to see christmas markets. All I needed to do was to buy a bus ticket. I left at 2 pm and by 10 pm I was back home. I LOVE this freedom to travel across borders.

You're correct about the UK having left the EU. It officially left in 2020 after a 2016 referendum. The video, however, is from 2013 which makes it a bit outdated. Also: a couple more countries have adopted the Euro as their currency since then

What is living in the EU like? Being a German Living in Czechia Studying and working in Austria and crossing the border almost daily and you only notice the border because the rails sound a bit different and also trains look different. Language aswell mostly

Being from Portugal and living in Estonia, it's amazing how I could just show up and say "hey, I live here now" and they were just like: "ok, here is your ID card". It's just that easy. It's amazing.

I think the most amazing thing about the European Union is that, unlike the US, not that long ago all these things were totally unthinkable. Many younger people don't know what you had to do in the past to just cross a border into another country in Europe, even just to go there on a holiday. Nowadays you barely notice when you cross a border; no waiting for hours, no grumpy uniformed officers asking for your passport and looking into your car, and you no longer need to go to a border exchange office to get the right money which took you a few days to get used to. The constant math you had to do... Crossing a border always was a thing, even when just going on a holiday, and even to friendly nations. Not to mention the Iron Curtain which was straight accross the current Union. Who ever thought 35 years ago that you could just cross the border into these countries without even being checked, which back then you could get shot for? Many young people don't know what a hassle it was, and so they don't see the value of the current situation, especially for trade. I'm not saying everything about the EU is good, but I feel like this is often forgotten by people who don't realise what the situation was before. I have to say the current situation takes away the romance of travel a bit. In the past, when you crossed a border, you were in a different world, with a different language, different money, different shops, different laws. It is not as exciting anymore, but I realise that was just for some holiday fun. What we got in return is a lot of opportunities and prosperity that serve us in our every day lives, not just on a holiday.

I’m from Portugal. I’m used to travel in Europe, I use my phone and, in the coutries with the Euro, pay with my card like if I was in my own countrie without extra fees. Last year I went to Bosnia Herzegovina (not part of the EU) and after being in there for a few minutes my wife received a message from the telecom operator saying she own them 180€ of roaming just for cheking the weather and visiting a website in the internet. We where shocked and learned how important is being in the EU.

You're right about the UK. They threw away their rights and privileges as EU citizens a few years ago. I'm British, but fortunately now also Dutch. So happy to get my EU citizenship back. I have British friends who have rediscovered their Irish or Italian roots since Brexit. 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

I went from Spain to Estonia (Cross Continent trip) and I wasnt stopped a single time, we really are living in incredible times

Here in the Nordic countries we had the "Nordiska passunionen" (Nordic passport union) from 1954 that made it possible to travel between Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark and some years later Iceland and Faroe Islands joined. This is the main reason the Schengen area include them even those that are not members of the union.

I’m studying European Studies at university, so I should know how the EU works by now. But even if you work for the EU as a civil servant, you still won’t know the full extent of the whole organization. The European Union is not exactly like the United States, but not like the United Nations either. It’s simply unique.

The European Union started as a project to make war in Europe impossible. After Germany and France had clashed again and again since the nineteenth century it all started with the Mountain Union, a treaty for a common market bilaterally controlled by France and Germany for goods relevant to military production. The benefits this project showed for both on the economical side soon inspired a further ranging partnership that included the Benelux countries and, well, more and more European countries joined. Basically it is the biggest peace project in human history that has tied the countries in Europe so closely together that the do blend into the United States of Europe one by one. To some that's a declared goal, others don't want to take things that far. Me, I guess it would be a good thing to have. Me, I love knowing I have that freedom to move anywhere in this multitude of cultures and lifestyles. I love the fact that I can get my cash from an ATM around the corner to go travel to Belgium and pay my lunch here with it just like that. My Polish and Bulgarian and Portuguese and Greek and whatnot neighbours are an absolute enrichment to my life. I love it! 🥰🤗

I am born behind a wall in communist East Germany in the 80s. The Privilege to enter French Guyana in South America with my simple ID card (not even Passport) is still mind boggling to me. And even i do not travel so much, the simple notion that i could every time take a walk from here to almost anywhere in Europe just adds to a kind of feeling Freedom in mind.

One interesting thing about the French overseas departments is that some European airlines can, during low season in Europe, operate some US - Caribbean routes because "hey, the EU is over here too".

When i was younger, i though that the Passport was useless since i can move from France to all the neighboring countries without any control or anything. I learned after that the rest of the Worlds isn't like that ^^. All the borders i have seen has nothing (like the photo in the video), the most "significant" one is between France and Germany because you need to cross a bridge, but that's all. It look like any other bridge ^^

Just a little correction: 6:00 - Poland is wrogly put in the Eurozone yellow frame as they still use their own currency: Zloty And just two fun facts: France´s longest border is thanks to the French Guiana in SA to Brazil and on the island of St. Martin in the Carribian it also borders the Netherlands (which it doens´t on continental Europe)

Hi there! Kevin from Ireland here. Even though we're not in the Schengen area, there is a blue lane in airports for EU citizens. You have to show your passport, but they barely look at it. A few minutes and you're through. No checks going into Northern Ireland either, only for Great Britain (that's the big island on the right). Trucks used to cross GB from Ireland to get to the continent (Europe) but with the new checks it's less hassle (but longer) to get a direct ferry. Lots of new routes too. Used to be only France. Now you can go direct to Spain (Bilbao) Roscoff and Cherbourg in France even up to Belgium and Holland (aka the Netherlands).

I live in France very close to Schengen (Luxembourg), the little town that gave it's name to the famous Area. The agreement has been signed there because it's in the middle of the "heart" of the UE, at the border between Luxembourg, France and Germany. It's so great to go on a hike and cross three borders in a few minutes :)

I am from The Netherlands and my parents are Surinamese. We went there for vacation one time. And I saw a car with a French plate there. I was so confused. But apparently it was from French Guyana.

I've spent a day in the European Parliament in Brussels, following people around and learning more about what's actually going on inside was amazing. The level of cooperation and respect was incredible. EU has its issues (just like any other union, country, federation) but it works really well considering how many different countries and cultures are in the union. Europe is way more diverse than outsiders can even imagine unless they've been to several European countries.

About the outermost regions of the EU, here is a quick "I win" question for trivia night : "what country does France share its longest border with?" Many people will guess either Germany and Spain, but the answer is Brazil - thanks to French Guyana. Similarly, despite being geographically separated from each other by Belgium, France and the Netherlands share a border - in the Caribbean : the island of Saint Martin, being divided between Saint Matrin (french) and Sint Marteen (dutch).

The EU is far more complex than I thought! This was educational and enlightening. I'm going to the original video to watch because it deserves more views. Thanks, Ian. I probably wouldn't have seen this if not for your reaction.

Love your videos! I work as a teacher in East Frisia (Germany) and I learn so much from watching your videos and also by listening to the way you speak English. I haven't been able to find the time to send a parcel but definitely will! Have a great weekend!

0:52 They *have* left, but this video predates all of that. We also have a couple of countries quite far along the way towards joining.

As an EU citizen, I think the freedom of movement thing is actually really cool. I already lived in two other EU member states, and I increasingly feel more keen to identify with Europe as a whole than with my particular country. It just feels so isolating, to focus on it, when we're all so similar, in a sense. I hope that people will emphasise this idea of a pan-European identity more in the future.

You can't compare the difference between 2 states and 2 countries of the EU. In the US, the "feeling" might be different, but in the EU, you can find complete culture, language and economic differences. So it's a crazy accomplishment, that the EU made it possible to combine 27 different countries into one big union.

I live in a border town between Germany and the Netherlands. We have an old boarder post with a Memorial plaque commemorating the last coffee and cigarette smuggler who died at the border in 1988. I was born in 1987 and cant remember a real boarder anywhere in Central Europe. The only thing I remember the boarder for is the change in speed limit from the German to the Dutch autobahn.

I remember the time when there still were borders between all the countries and different currencies. It was quite complicated and bigger international businesses had a lot of work in converting different currencies. In calculating the prices, you´d also factor in a margin for changes in the exchange rate. Each transaction over the borders included a margin of financial risk because of the exchange rates and debt collection also was difficult. The Euro made all of this much easier. It is not only free travel, but also the free exchange of goods, money and services under some basic rules that makes things much easier.

Gotta say, i visited Iceland this year and being able to just pay with my German debit card there, and not having any border controls was really convenient, not that it was much worse visiting Japan but it feels different when you need to look for the "Eu citizen line" for passport control on the airport instead of just walking out.

It's nice to see that at least one American knows there are other countries. 😂

Just one little thing Ian, when you said a bout people living in London and you were moving your mouse on the screen you were pointing at Spain 🙂 London is a little bit higher up. Cool video though and as I live in the Netherlands (I'm not Dutch but married one) have been to lots of places here where the Dutch/Belgian border is just a line painted on the ground...one foot in each country.

The video is older, before Brexit. As for the Schengen area: what is not quite correct, you do need identification with you to travel between countries, that is a passport or an ID card, something like a drivers license does not suffice. And there can be sporadic checks near the border during normal times. Due to some circumstances, border checks can be fully reinstated and have been partially in recent years.

CGP Grey is one of the best RU-vidrs when it comes to explaining things. Another one is Jay Foreman. If they drop a new video I have to watch it immediately.

A lot of those overseas territories don't just allow full free movement for one simple reason: they're too small. Most of these are tiny islands so if a lot of people from the EU would want to move there, there just wouldn't be the housing & services available to deal with the numbers. Liechtenstein also has restrictions despite technically taking part in freedom of movement, again because of the size of the country (their population is only 39K).

We learn something new every day. Thanks Ian. 👍

I'm a big CGP Grey fan, glad you found one of their videos!

Hello from Switzerland, a short explanation as to why Switzerland is not a member of the EU, neutrality has little to do with it. There were (as is usual in Switzerland) popular votes to join the EU, which were clearly rejected. The reasons are above all our independence, freedom, on which the founding is based ("Rütlischwur" 1291). Furthermore, the EU is neither willing nor able to allow a democratic system like ours, in which the people can overturn every decision of the government or can initiate such; that means the Swiss people would have to relinquish many of their democratic rights; That will never happen! Anyone with a bit of common sense can understand that, except for the EU.

I recommend watching "The European union - Summery on a map" by Geo history. It does a more deep dive on the EU and how it evolved through out the years.

the short version we had at university as far as it regarded our course was that the EU was mainly made to allow free move/travel of ressources and workers through the open borders and EU-laws in germany they are called "Verordnungen" which are directly adressed at someone and "Richtlinien" (translate more or less as Guidelines) which set certain standards the the EU states have to follow by making laws for their own nations which ensure these goals for example the "Maschinen-Richtlinie" (machine-guideline) got integrated into the Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Product-Safety Law) together with other regulations thanks to the machine guideline all "machines" need to have the CE-Symbol which says that the creator/distibutor "makes the claim" that his product fullfill the machine guideline's requirements basically a good concept though on the outide it feel annoying - like when my friend once tried to import a limited edition playstation controller from outside of the EU and it got take in at the border thanks to the lack of the CE-Symbol iirc even though materials and co "should be" identical... well at least so much from me to add though english is not my first language and me beeing no EU-expert I claim no 100% accuracy for my little summary especially since there were a few more points I thought i should ahve but cant remember right now mfg Olli

Also another point...my country Croatia, which is the latest EU member, joined in 2013.... we will get the Euro soon, officially from the 01.01.2023. And we should enter the Schengen-zone soon as well.

Yep, the EU is complicated. But in this video there was a lot of attention to the 'outer regions' of the member states. Which are special..., but represent only 1% in population. Their relation to the 'motherland' is already complex, and to the EU even more so. In general: these regions are locally self governing, but part of the motherland in regard to defense and foreign policies. Their citizens are EU citizens and enjoy all rights connected to it.

@Ian, look at some of Tim Travellers videos on weird borders in Europe! Some go through a hotel or actually alters depending on what time of year it currently is! Playlist (he has way more than this!): ru-vid.com/group/PLeL-qrCp_9NTt-IPE4MWKPzojAQsMParV

I like your clips, a lot. Maybe I remember wrong, but haven't you at some point reacted to music videos? Nightwish, perhaps?

The images CGPGrey uses when bringing up the UK’s territories is actually from his video explaining the differences between the terms United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England. It was one of his first viral videos. The “part of Greece where no women are allowed” is a place that’s exclusively monasteries. Actually there’s a recent video on a channel similar to CGPGrey that discusses its history as well as its current status inside both Greece and the EU. If you want to learn more about the EU’s institutions and kind of how they operate, I recommend two channels: TLDR News EU has some videos explaining it and EUMadeSimple has some videos. I personally think the TLDR News EU videos explain the various institutions that run the EU better than the one that’s supposed to be a “simple” explanation, but those are the two channels I’ve found with the best videos on the topic as an American (and I basically stumbled upon them). TLDR News actually has some great videos explaining the UK Parliament, Supreme Court, and other institutions. They’re based in the UK and those specific videos were made during all the post Brexit issues happening in the UK government that got a lot of attention around the world and so suddenly a lot of people were looking at the UK’s institutions and a bit confused on how they work, traditions, etc. The folks at the channel made the videos to answer a lot of viewers from outside the UK’s questions. I like CGPGrey’s channel. He has lots of other great videos, too, on topics ranging from things about the US, city of London, hexagons, airport runway numbers, and more. I basically found his channel all the way back when the UK video was posted and have been a subscriber since. And every US presidential election year whenever I get friends asking questions about primaries, electoral college, etc I share his videos on the topics because his videos generally cover whatever it is they’re asking me about and he provides the answer in a much more fun and visually interesting way than me. :-)

While I was on holiday in Europe I visited the Verdun battlefield, which was a very sombre experience. It's a very quiet place, without even much in the way of birdsong, and you get the feeling the living are intruders there - it's a place for the dead. I wondered, if you could summon up the ghosts of the fallen there and told them that a hundred years later, there would be no border between France and Germany, would they think that was wonderful or terrible? I still don't know.

The border you saw between the Netherlands and Belgium is in the municipalities of Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau and this was just one of the numerous borders in this small town, they literally run everywhere and it's even crazier then you can imagine and border controle would be impossible here! 🤯🤪✌🏼 Drew Binsky This Bizarre Town is Stuck in 2 Countries! 🇳🇱🇧🇪 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-T-jWsMTtzek.html

Hi Ian, are you going to be watching the Adelaide 500 today or tomorrow ? It’s the last Holden race there are a few of us from the discord going .

Hi from La Réunion 😄😄😄 Cool video

Another important fact about the benefits of the EU: I'm from Portugal and work as tour manager for touring artists and I'm constantly traveling. Once I had an health issue and stayed 5 days in a German hospital and didn't pay for anything. That's pretty awesome.

Hello, can you make a video about the differences between agriculture in the USA and Germany?

« Work and retire where you want » only works on paper or if you speak 20 different languages. (Try to live in France with a Romanian pension)

@IWrocker It can be very confusing. You can make some sense of it if you take two things**(asterisk) into consideration. 1. The time and circumstances which forced the founding members to come together (after WW2). 2. Every step forward resulted from numerous compromises in major EU summits between sovereign states with their own goals and strategies. Considering these facts, it starts making sense why the Schengen zone has different members from the Eurozone.

France in itself is kinda complex. We have overseas regions, that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. They are integral parts of the French Republic, are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic and Social Council, elect a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and use the euro as their currency : - Mayotte and La Réunion in the Indian Ocean - French Guyana in South America - Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean Saint Pierre and Miquelon (off Canada, in North America) was an overseas department but was demoted to a territorial collectivity in 1985. We also have in Metropolitan France Collectivities with special status such as Corsica and the Greater Lyon. The European Collectivity of Alsace has its own status. Paris has its own Assembly (Conseil de Paris) 16 urban communities (a major city and its suburbs) There are Provinces (Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets) all in New Caledonia, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. They have a specific status when it comes to customary aithoriy, police and military enforcement ... New Caledonia is not a territorial collectivity (although its subdivisions are territorial collectivities) but an autonomous collectivity French Polynesia has its own Assembly and therefore is designated as an "overseas country" Some communes also have different specific rules like Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, (both in the Caribbean) and Wallis and Futuna (French territoire in South Pacific) There is the uninhabited Clipperton Island, (Eastern Pacific) which is directly administered by the office of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Overseas France And we also have territories that have no permanent civilian population. The residents consist of military personnel, scientific researchers, and support staff. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Adélie Land, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Saint Paul Island, Amsterdam Island and The Scattered Islands)

Just a piece of trivia for you: i (italian) am looking to live around EU for a while since i work remotely. I checked for spain (i guess this is true for other members of the EU) and I can stay there for 3 months without conditions. If i want to stay more i have to prove that i have some income and i need to officially register myself in spain. Although this process is fairly straightforward, that adds another * to the mix :)

Since the original video is from 2013, it is the reason why they show UK as a part of EU, also, since then, Lithuania and maybe a few more, have adopted euro, but Poland have not, even tho its stated in the video, they still use złoty as currency

8:25 they can if they're a citizen from the country the overseas territory is attached to. So a french citizen could go live in New Caledonia, but a German would have to apply for a visa

Do the one from the same author/creator about Holland / The Netherlands explained.

American, “I need my passport to cross the border.” European, “What’s a border?”

6:37 and Mayotte also near Madagascar and the Comoros

It's not just the EU or the US, this thing applies to India as well since every Indian state has its own languages and culture, and its own laws wrt some major things. So you can freely travel from one Indian state to another and enter a completely different linguistic and cultural area with its own laws, but under the same national entity and legal system. The geographies also change from region to region, just like with the EU and the US.

I am a big fan of the EU and still remember when there were borders and different currencies. I lived in Germany close to France and Switzerland. There is definitely room for improvement and the eastern extension was too quick with too many rights granted and problems caused by that. And you are correct. The United Kingdom is not part of the EU anymore. When was that video published? Just checked. It was published in 2013.

to answer any questions you might have after this video all I can say is "well that depends"

To make it a bit more complicate there is also the German Island of Helgoland or Heligoland in English (ca. 50 km offshore) Which is not part of the European Customs Area, which means that German excise duties are not claimed on any goods to be sold there. In my younger years we often went there by boat to buy cheap alcohol, cigaretts, cigars and so on. And of course, from time to time there are smugglers coming across the north sea.

Thanks mate! These videos are always bit outdated, but OK! I like your videos wery much, but this time I have to disagree about the comparison between the US and the EU being like same kinds thing. It is pretty far from that. But I totally respect your point and I really hope one day you will experience it by your self😍😍😁Best Regards from Finland.

what people have to under6is that its independent countries that make own laws, own presidents or Prime Ministers. its not an european usa. its like trade version of nato. free movement of people, work and service. you have some common laws but every country have to vote for them in the eu parlament. Its laws that have with working conditions, etc. a country can have harder laws but not weaker. for instance. maximum working /day is 11h and then you need dayly rest. its controlled by eu. however can a single country say that maximum is 8h/ day for all who work in that country but you cant say 12 h/ day. same with lots of other laws. every country make their laws but have to follow eu common laws witch are a minimum. Among all laws, eu only decide a very few. take gunlaws, crimelaws etc. thats its not on eu level.

Great video - I live in Germany in a small town in border with Luxembourg. And today I ventured to Schengen, where this free movement agreement was signed. it was pretty cool

You probably noticed that the original video (that you were reacting to) is 9 years old and many things have changed since then- like Brexit and more countries joining Eurozone since then

Now, i am so proud to be a European

Surprised no one has mentioned Ukraine so far in the comments. Whilst it is not yet a member state it is an official candidate for European Union (EU) membership, the first step to joining the organisation.

From 01.01.2023, Croatia enters in EURO zone and, perhaps, Shengen area.

To sum it up: If you like Freedom (tm) you can be part of the euroclub (tm) for membership fees. (terms and conditions apply*123)

Ukraine has also applied to join the EU at the beginning of the war. It was a long time coming, Ukraine definitely turning to the west in the past 8 years.

Personally I'm still waiting for canada joining the EU that would be quit interesting 🤔

One very important aspect that was not mentioned in the video: when the EU was formed (better said, restructured in the way we know it today, in the early 90's) the western European countries which founded it, helped integrate and develop the eastern european nations (generally the least developed countries, which were also recovering after the fall of communism). As someone who grew up in Romania (Eastern Europe), the transformation of the country in the past 15 years since we joined the EU is incredible. Free borders means people get to travel and become more open-minded (big issue with rigidity and hostility in Eastern Europe / former USSR), european funds mean improving the infrastructure, architecture and development of new projects, european regulations mean less corruption, more order. The cities are cleaner, there are more opportunities for people, free travel means tourism revenue, free trade means availability of products, more options, competitive prices, etc. Romania is not even the greates success story, but there are several eastern european countries which wouldn't have become what they are today if it wasn't for the European Union. In the same time, in terms of international relations, the US and others don't need to communicate with each and every country, they only need to communicate with the European Parliament, who speaks for the whole continent. Each country has representatives in this one judicial body, in relations to the rest of the world. This is particularly helpful in times of conflict, such as when Russia does something aggresive.

Visited the Czech Republic and Poland as a teenager. Schengen was a thing, east block had long fallen but those countries hadn't joined the EU yet. The borders between Germany and those countries were quite like fortifications. The border between PL and CZ was also guarded, pretty much like EU's internal borders used to be before Schengen, and we having EU member passports led to extra scrutiny on that border. Corona and refugee waves have given some countries permission to do passport checks the last few years, but it's just that, quick and easy for member citizen with the documents in order... But it would be nicer if you could basically cross the border without slowing down. But even where no check is necessary the police keep an eye on the borders, so if you look suspect when crossing the police may try to intercept you in traffic to check that things are in order. So you're still supposed to bring your passport when abroad. Also moving to another EU country to permanently live or work is highly simplified in that video... You need to register with the national authorities of the country, otherwise you're basically just a temporary resident that can't stay in one country for more than 3 months in a row. But registering is a pure formality, it's not an application to be allowed to live and work somewhere else. I believe that the main purpose of this is to make sure that you pay taxes to the rightful country. Inside EU there are also smaller unions like Benelux and the Nordic passport union, within which residents can move around and settle without any registration, which is why you see those middle of the road borders between Netherlands and Belgium. EUs outer borders are quite fortified tho, like those into RU and Belarus.

Though the EU was founded 30 years ago, it's just a new structure, existing just one generation. In my opinion the biggest problem is, that an EU wide decision must be put in local laws in every of the now 27 states and so often facing rejection for any change. As Austrian I am not eligible to point my finger to others, but I do see neighbors having these problems on their own. I am convinced of the EU's system, but we have to work hard at least one or two generations further to see long term results. And looking at the UNITED states of America, there were even wars for today's given structures. I hope we will be spared from these wars...

Finally a great, if dated, video on EU. There are so many bs videos with half the facts wrong (especially schengen/Eurozone and EU are being confused as one) about Europe and EU going around the social media

It’s very interesting. I moved to Cyprus when the U.K. was part of the EU and applied for European Temporary residency which I got and 5 years later got a Permanent residency biometric card. I seem to get all the benefits of being a Cypriot citizen but none of the “bad”. Whereas my Girlfriend is Hungarian & German and has been here for nearly 15 years on European temporary residency. She gets very little of the benefits that I get…

The Videos from this channel over Netherlands and the UK are rather good too. The UK one is a bit Old and be a lot of stuff you know already but the Netherlands one is ..... Special. :-) Totally woth seeing. ALso this channel is awesome.

The truth is that the video to which you have reacted is very good, but at the same time it is outdated. As you well say in the video, the United Kingdom is no longer in the union. In addition, more countries have entered the eurozone, Croatia will enter the eurozone and schengen at the beginning of 2023 and it is expected that Bulgaria will adopt the euro in 2024 and Romania will also enter the schengen. Ps: I really liked the video friend. Greetings from Spain!!! 🇪🇸🇪🇺

The video gets some things wrong but overall it's good. Poland for example, is NOT in the Eurozone, and uses its own currency (Polish Zloty). And you're correct. UK is not in EU anymore.

Great video! It is cool to see USA people wanting to know more about the world. Actually, thanks to you I learnt about European Union even though I am Spanish and live in a different European country! Really cool

There are lots of errors in the source video. I know it's pretty old, but there are some things that were never true - e.g. Poland is not a member of the Eurozone, never has (6:00). Also, you don't need a passport and a good reason to enter non-schengen member states: you just need some ID proving your EU citizenship. Lastly - what the author refers to as EEA is actually EFTA.

About EU official candidates, you can add Ukraine and Moldova on the list. Even though they won't be in soon, they will one day. About the Eurozone, Croatia is gonna use the euro, starting in 2023.

Growing up as a German born in Dachau in 69 and travelling Europe with my parents was not allways uneventful. Moved to Greece with them, lived in Athens for 8 years, learnt english, french and of course greek there...returned and I can not really say "I am German"...I have a german passport, but I do not feel german. I am a citizen of the European Union and proud of what we as a Union have accomplished in such a short time. Sure there are allways some bumps in the road, some errors being made, but without that we would never learn how to improve ourselves. Some might say that some expansion is too fast ...maybe true, some newer mebers may not yet have the true democratic values because they are rather young in being democratic. Some countries leave and think they can do better on there own. In the grand scheme the EU is more an economic foundation for the United States of Europe with some groundwork for legislation. Will surely take some decades till we have reached a clear point of unity. All in all....the stability in mainland Europe has increased, at least in most memberstates within the EU. The ability to simply move and work within any memberstate or simply retire where ever I want ... Thats real freedom. I think I will retire half in Greece and half in Martinique or Guadelupe :D

UK left the UE at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The video you're reacting to is from 2013.

You have to get used to the style of CGP Grey's video's to be able to get all the information....and some of the jokes :) Try watching his videos on the UK and the one on the Netherlands and you will see a theme of trying to cram a lot of information in a short video....and succeeding mostly :) (small spoiler: both the united KINGDOM and the KINGDOM of the Netherlands are complicated.....because empire...)

Right now the borders really look like in the video, but what was mind blowing was the opening of the borders. I'm from Poland which joined a little later than the biggest western countries - along with a lot of other middle and eastern European countries. I was on vacation in Livonia (Latvia/Lithuania/Estonia) at the time of opening the borders. A day before they were checking our passports and our cars when crossing between Lithuania and Latvia, the next day was 1st of May and while there were still buildings and fences present on the border there were no guards and all gates were just wide open. Trualy a historic moment for a teenager to see.

Your right, the UK has left the EU now. (Big mistake IMO)

Very interesting!

About the Islanda It works in this way: if you are France and live in Paris, you can travel in all'EU and in any overeseas territories. If you are French of an overeseas territory you can travel to french and the EU. If you are from an other EU state that France (italian) you can travel to France but you have to figured out whether or not you country of Citizenship have agreements with France about travelling in overeseas territories.....If they did you can travel with no passport or visa, if they did not you have to ask for visa ECc

It's true that you have to show a passport from europe to enter ireland but that's the only difference anyone from Europe can live and work here and we can live and work anywhere in the European union. However anyone from Britain now needs a passport and visa to go to europe. They can't work there. British people already living in europe have to return to Britain every three months they also have to pay for health care and education. Makes me smile sometimes.

no. not like usa. why do you think everything is like usa. its a union. they dont have a common president

you look at the commonwealth for example its an association of 56 countries working towards shared goals of prosperity, democracy and peace. The Commonwealth Secretariat is the intergovernmental organisation which co-ordinates and carries out much of the Commonwealth's work, supported by a network of more than 80 organisations.

there are few mistakes in the vid eg. Poland is not part of the eurozone (on the diagram) and as a EU member you don't need passport to enter & live in Ireland (you go in based on ID). From EU related vids you can also look up Kurzgesagt's Is the EU Democratic? Does Your Vote Matter?

There is a big split between people who want to be a part of a single EU identity, seeing themselves as both the EU citizens and the citizens of their country (or on a far edge of the spectrum, seeing themselves as just Europeans and calling for removing national states) - mostly young people, upper middle income and higher, highly educated, versus Eurosceptics who don't want to have any other identity other than their national and don't want to see te EU competences grow or even want to get out of the EU but that's another far edge of the spectrum. Mostly elders, very religious, low income, low education.