European Union: Difference between revisions

 

* [[Useful Notes/Austria|Austria]] - joined in 1995. Birthplace of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]. Famous for its classical musicians, Viennese coffeehouses and mountains. Well-known due to ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' (which is not popular in Austria).

* [[Useful Notes/Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] - joined in 2007. They use [[The Backwards R|the Cyrillic alphabet]], but they're not covered in fiction much (except briefly in ''[[Harry Potter]]''). In real life probably best known for its Black Sea resorts and cheap red wine, though it's becoming a popular skiing destination as well. Their [[The Beautiful Game|football]] team had a run of form in the mid-90s and finished top-four in the World Cup.

* [[Useful Notes/Cyprus|Cyprus]] - joined in 2004 (well, half of it at any rate). The other half is run by a Turkey-backed government and has been for thirty years. Only Turkey officially recognises it. A reunification effort failed in 2004 after the Greek half (the one that joined the EU) rejected it. Has two British air bases which played an important role in the Gulf War.

* [[Useful Notes/Estonia|Estonia]] - formerly part of the Soviet Union, they really didn't enjoy it and were one of the first countries to break away. Joined in 2004 and <s>are</s> were a pretty well off country, before their economy crashed in the current global recession-crisis-thing. Known for its internet capabilities (it had been called the most wired country in Europe) No real tropes associated with Estonia - it's not covered in fiction much.

** It was actually neighbouring Latvia that was hit the hardest during the crisis, but Estonia's misfortunes might be more noticeable because for a long time it was seen as the biggest post-Soviet success story. Now the Baltic Tiger seems to be sharing the fate of the Celtic one.

* [[Useful Notes/France|France]] - A founder member. Known for wine, berets and country estates on the Riviera and [[French Jerk|rudeness to tourists]]. Has a reputation for not doing well in wars (which isn't very accurate, given this is the country of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]). Once had a huge empire second only to Britain's. [[Gay Paree]] covers France tropes in general.

* [[Useful Notes/Germany|Germany]] - Being the most populous country in Europe (not counting Russia), it's diverse enough to have two separate tropes dedicated to it- [[Oktoberfest]] and [[Prussia]] (which has largely merged into the former). The [[West Germany|Western part]] was a founder member of the EU, the [[East Germany|Eastern part]] automatically joined on reunification, since it no longer existed. It has a female Chancellor (complete with [[Power Hair]]) and <s>still uses</s> until recently used conscription.

* [[Useful Notes/Slovakia|Slovakia]] - [[Garfunkel|the other half of the former Czechoslovakia]]. Infamous for the ''Hostel'' movies, it's not really like that. Somewhat poorer than its Czech brother and not nearly as well-known.

* [[Useful Notes/Slovenia|Slovenia]] - Part of the former Yugoslavia, it gained its independence in 10 days of fighting and escaped the worst of the Balkan Wars. It was the wealthiest country of the 2004 intake.

* [[Useful Notes/Britain|Britain]] - properly, the United Kingdom -- see [[British Political System]]. Joined in 1972. They wanted to join earlier, but France (specifically Charles de Gaulle) put the kibosh on that, one excuse being that Britain wasn't a part of Europe. [[French Jerk|Twice]]. Known for being [[Heterosexual Life Partners]] with America and its former colonies (including a couple of minor wars they both fought in) and [[A Spot of Tea|tea]]. Has quite easily the most [[With Europe but Not of It|antagonistic relationship]] with the Union.

 

 

The EU today is essentially a free trade and movement area (with a lot of common standards, including electricity at 230 V plus or minus 10%, although this isn't really a variation from previous standards used and old toasters still work), but also covers a considerable number of other areas, such as social policy, the environment and increasingly foreign affairs. The mantra is "free movement of people, goods, captial and services". You can emigrate and work freely within the Union (as well as vote in local and European elections wherever you live)- between certain countries, you don't even need a national ID. This group of countries are the "Schengen Countries" you might see referred to in airports -- although it's worth noting that this is not specifically an EU thing, and some countries, notably Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, are in the Schengen area but not the EU; and vice-versa, Britain and Ireland are not.<ref>Ireland want to be in it, but to do so would mean that the British would either have to join -- which they'll never do -- or create a physical border -- which neither want to do</ref>

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

 

== [[Literature]] ==

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

* The EEC appears at least twice in ''[[Yes Minister]]'':

** In "The Devil You Know," Jim Hacker has managed to convince the rest of the departments to let him buy all the new word processors for the entire Civil Service and government, and just as he's about to award the massive order to a British company, an EEC directive comes in that forces him to reevaluate the policy. At the same time, a Cabinet reshuffle opens up the British seat on the European Commission, and Hacker (and even more so his wife) is tempted by the cushy perks that Commissioners get, despite the job being a [[Kicked Upstairs|career-ender in domestic politics]].

** In the [[Christmas Episode|Christmas Special]] "Party Games," Hacker secures the Premiership by delivering a tirade against an EEC directive that would force British sausages to be relabeled "high-fat offal tubes" instead of "sausages" on account of their use of fillers and lack of lean meat. Unbeknownst to the public, he had previously secured a promise from Maurice, the (obviously-French) EEC Commissioner responsible for the directive, to allow British sausages to be labeled "British sausages" instead.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

== [[Video Games]] ==

* A [[United Europe|more centralized]] European Federation is one of the playable factions in ''[[Tom Clancy|Tom Clancy's Endwar]]'' and has its capital in Paris. Involved in a three way free-for-all known as [[World War Three|World War 3]] with the United States and Russia and makes a point that even its military runs on environmentally-friendly fuel.

* The Director of the European Union plays on important role in the expansion for ''[[Command and Conquer|Red Alert 3]]''. This being an [[Alternate Universe]], the EU is implied to be stronger though we don't get much info. We do, however, see a flag which is a combination of EU and [[NATO]] flags.

** And he's evil, to boot.