Commission Debate, Apr/May 2020
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Mr Juncker you are over time. As such, I will have to dock time ((OOC 35 words)) from your rebuttal ((OOC your rebuttal should not exceed 165 words)). I urge all candidates to follow the guidelines of this debate.
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Jean, I know you’re a tough guy, but you’ve got to settle down! Let Whiteford speak!
I am the only anti-coup person on this stage, OK?
First of all we’ve got Whiteford, who we all know is for coups so long as they’re not against her. And when they are against her, she loses. So we can’t trust Whiteford, and everybody knows that.
But Mr Winston is so wrong, I can’t believe it. I think he’s a good guy, and his country did a great job stopping the Communist coup there, but he’s pro-coup, and that’s so bad. Coups aren’t democratic, they’re actually the opposite. Democracy is elections, OK? In Pravoslaviya we got rid of a really bad guy, and we did it with democracy. You only do a coup if you can’t win elections. So I think you’re a little muddled there, Winston, but that’s OK, it’s a long evening.
And Jean, give me a break. You can't say coups are bad when you drive around in a great big tank in your campaign! And this guy, let me tell you about this guy – a few days ago, he said he would kill Winston. It's true! Look it up, he said he would throw Winston from a balcony – which, by the way, is what they did to Craticus in that coup – and this guy says he's against coups?
The way to Make Europe Safe Again is so simple, it’s beautiful. If there’s a coup, whether it’s Communist or globalist or whatever, that country gets suspended from the EU for at least six months, and the Council should be able to extend that. We bring other countries together and we do sanctions. If you want the benefits of being in the EU, we don’t want coups. No coups!
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Thank you for the question. I think that coups against corruption that then hold elections are worse than coups that never go onto have elections and are coups against a legitimate elected government. Inquista is having elections right now, when will the UNSR have elections? Not anytime soon.
But what this also shows is a weakness in leadership at the top of European government. Where was the Premier Commissioner? Nowhere. The other candidates for Premier aren’t going to be there either, not in a meaningful way. We need a Premier who has dedicated her life for the cause of liberal values, of fair capitalism and of anti-communism.
I remember back in my onion farm, back in ‘88, when the communist central-planning Committee ruined our onion crop. I vowed never again would an onion be wasted by a leviathan-like state that doesn’t know its onion from its shallot.
I and other EPA Councillors and members are endorsing a plan to standardise diplomatic relations across Europe. Councillor Falk’s proposal, when complete, will be a cornerstone of diplomatic policy in Europe and will be a way to manage diplomatic disputes. I also commend Kristian Nyuland’s skills in mediating the peace talks in Reitzmag, these skills are the kind of thing I want to encourage during my premiership.
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It's very important that we, as a Union, take a strong stand in favour of democracy across Europe. The European Union can't champion itself as a bastion of democracy without ensuring that the member states themselves adhere to democratic tenants. I believe that the EU needs to be bold in this regard, and I think the resolution passed to condemn Icholasen, for instance, was a right move. The problem is, many member states have since disregarded that resolution, and there's no repercussions against them in doing so. We need a stronger Union, one where member states who disregard the EU's laws are punished, and one where we take strong actions to protect democracy. In terms of Foreign Affairs, we can't advocate for European ideals abroad without making sure our own home is in order first.
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Thank you for your responses. Our next question comes from Ria Levion, an
intern at the Center for Public Policy in the Duxburian Union, specifically for the Internal Affairs Candidates:"There has been much talk on the campaign trail about new projects in Europe. The European Union only has a 52 billion euro budget, much of which is already allocated to existing programs. How do you plan to go about funding all these new projects?"
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Folks, it's very simple. I am not proposing a load of crazy spending projects.
We can Make Europe Great Again without wasting a load of money, OK? I'm a businessman, I like saving money. To be honest, we could probably do a lot more with €52 billion, but I don't trust our politicians with it. With spending, we need to be more efficient, first, and then, maybe, we can look at spending a bit more.
The way we Make Europe Great Again isn’t with crazy spending, it’s changing our leadership and changing the way things are done in Europolis which, right now, is a total swamp. We repeal the Refugee Protection Act, we suspend countries after a coup, we pass laws to make sure the system isn't rigged against small businesses in favour of global corporations.
The politicians on this stage want to play at being businessmen without actually being businessmen, OK? They want to build their Trympov Towers but with other people's money. And folks, they wouldn't cut it in the world of business. Crazy spending, and no way to pay. Give me a break.
But these guys, OK, they want to spend billions and billions, but what do they do if a country says ‘we’ve had enough of globalism, we’ve had enough of your crazy laws, we’re not paying any more’? They’ll be like ‘GIVE ME MORE MONEY, MOMMY! GIVE ME MONEY, DADDY! I WANT TRAINS!’ and they’ll make everyone in Europe pay the bill. They're pro-coup because they need the money of the countries that have coups, so they can have their trains that go bing-bing-bing all over Europe.
If the globalists get back in, you will all be giving them so much money, you won’t believe. Europolis needs a businessman, OK, and that’s me.
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Thank you Ria for your question.
We've to point out some interesting facts to answer this question. First of all, we haven't actually had an EU budget in years, so it'd be of utmost that we actually first draft a new one before we begin looking at expanding programs.
Secondly, the EU have tended to have pretty big budget surpluses, so there hopefully should be room for these programs. I'd like to add that the EPA is committed to repealing old pieces of legislation and programs that we don't use, like the European Institute of Culture and Education, which should open some extra revenue, which means getting even more funds than we expect.
And last but not least, I only support programmes which are truly beneficial to all member states, especially which are supported by big countries like the Duxburian Union who contributes a large sum of money to the budget and which is a very important member state.
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Karl looked a bit confused
"I knew that we would have to set limits on the lengths of your responses, but not on the time that you'd have to initiate your response. We have alot to get through tonight, and as such, I'm going to get moving."
((OOC: There was a two day response period. We have to move this debate forward.)) -
My next question is for all the candidates, straight from Vayinaod.
Erik from Nyetthem asks, "How do you pronounce Vayinaod? How will you seek to balance preservation of our national cultures and bringing us together?"
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Thank you for your question Erik.
About your first question, I pronounce it like this: Vayinaod (Which he pronounces as Vaiyinood)
Attending your second question, I'm not planning to get into any member state government, others can't say that. (Juncker looks at Winston) Every culture will be preserved and will have the same relevance than other European culture, as every single one is special on its own. We've remained united the last years and we will, we just need to work together and coloperate in everything we are able to.
We know that bringing up together it's difficult, and sometimes is tough, but we can do it if we want and we really try to. We don't need to surrender on these ones, we need to be determined on that. Respect will be a very important tool, because if we don't respect each others, we aren't going to be respected, so we need to respect, have determination and also, cooperate with other member states.
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Excellent questions, Ethan.
Firstly, I pronounce your country as Vay-in-ood.
Your second question is very important and is something I've actually been discussing on the campaign trail. Diversity is very important, because it’s both a strength and an asset. All our nations and cultures have certain strengths. All of our nations and cultures bring something to the table. That’s precisely why we are stronger together in the Union. It’s our region’s diversity which makes us strong. That’s why I believe that we need to expand our Union and allow even more states into it.
Even though there are differences in our cultures, there is a lot of common ground between us. Conflict only damages and weakens us. We are all better off living harmoniously and cooperatively. We are all human and we are all fundamentally born equal. We also all share a common home, which is Europe. It’s from this viewpoint of commonality that we should be working together where we can, such as by working together to defend the region from invaders.
I believe we should allow our common ground and common humanity to guide us, but we should embrace what makes each of cultures unique and strong.
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Erik, I'll tell you how I pronounce it; I pronounce it correctly, OK? I've been to Nordsyen and I've been to Nyetthem, and you folks have such a beautiful country.
Folks, I am so proud to be Pravoslaviyan. And everywhere I go, all over Europe, I find so many people are so proud of their countries, and it's so beautiful. People don't want to be what they're not, OK? People like their countries, and they want to keep their countries.
But the globalists in Europolis, they don't want that. They're globalists, OK? These guys don't get into politics for you, they do it for the illegal migrants and the global corporations. That’s it, essentially. They want to suck so much money out of your countries, you wouldn’t believe; it’s why they didn’t like that question about spending.
I like governments that put their citizens first. And when I'm on the Commission, I'm going to support them, and I'm going to protect them – and all legitimate governments, let’s make that clear – against the coups.
We have Communist coups, and we have globalist coups, and both those – what do you call it – ideologies, they’re against nations. It's simple. And we all know the globalists in Europolis, like Whiteford, keep losing to the Communists, and we can't keep losing if we want to have our countries, because the Communists don’t want our countries to be countries.
And one thing we have to do, if we want to keep our countries, is repeal the Refugee Protection Act, which is so bad. With that Act, our countries don’t have borders, and how can you have a country without borders, it doesn’t work! So we need to repeal that and restore our borders. I’m in this to help you all take your countries back, OK?
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Thank you for this wonderful question Mr. Erik!
So, I pronounce your country's name as Vayinaod* when I made a campaign rally there. [* = Vae-yee-naud]
On the aspect of preserving our diverse cultures and at the same time uniting us all. This is the challenge to us on how we would fulfill and show the EU Motto in our administrations. And I agree to Mr. Juncker that we need respect, but that's not enough. We need cooperation, we need virtues, we need ethics. Reitzmag, my home country, is home to diverse religions which were mostly based in former E. Moreland county together before it was bombed. We managed to do this by enforcing laws against discrimination to ensure that everyone respects each other. The use of religion in our courts to charge cases or defend is not tolerated and is considered racism. That's what Europe needs, prevent racism so that we would all be developed both socially, economically and culturally, and that we will of course be United in Diversity!
Thank you and God Bless!
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"Thank you for the question! I speak 3 languages but I am clueless - in Icholasen we normally say 'Vay-i-nod'. I guess that's just our weird Nicoleizian accent. Some people say we speak as if we're have onions in our mouth - and for me that definitely is the case as just I love onions.
But to answer your question, to do this we need to balance the powers of the EU and define what exactly they are. We can't preserve our national cultures and sovereignty if the EU is free to legislate on literally everything. The EU Council could turn around one day and legislate a way to say Vayinaod, legislate to ban Fremetian furniture or to tell the DU to speak Pravoslaviyan. Having something consistent in terms of what the EU can legislate on is important and is something I'd like to see as Premier.
As for bringing us all together, I think cultural events such as Eurovoice and other competitions are great for bringing Europe closer, and I'm very much looking forward to the next EV in Angleter. There are songs that bring Europe together like nothing else could do, like the one that Post Malone sang. That song brought Europe together in mutual disgust, and I applaud Post Malone and Vayinaod for that.
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Thank you for your responses. On to the next question...
We have another one from the DU: Erling Ives, Master-General of Commerce, asks, "Equality and unity in the EU have been frequently discussed. The Union of Duxburian Dominions currently contributes 24.4% of the entire EU budget, but only holds 6.7% of Council voting power. Much smaller countries such as the Ottoman Empire have the same voting power while contributing 0.002% of the budget. DU plus Inquista contribute more than half the entire budget, while holding only 13.4% of the voting power. Do you think this is a fair situation that leads to equal outcomes and promotes unity in the EU?"
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Thank you for your question, Irvine.
I firmly believe in the principle of 'one country, one vote'. In the European Council, the voice of every nation, regardless of their size, wealth or any other factor, should be equal. Beyond principle, especially in terms of Foreign Affairs, I feel strongly that is an especially attractive draw for new nations to join the European Union, where they know they'll be treated as complete equals. This was certainly the case for my own country when it joined the EU.
Countries make proportional contributions to the European budget because they, in theory, at least, would also utilize proportionally the largest sums of that money, especially when you think of EHIC. That isn't always the case though, I know. However, large countries, especially Angleter and Inquista, have already completely ignored and shunned laws passed by the European Council that they do not like, and they use their budgetary contributions as a bargaining chips. Gay marriage hasn't been legalized in those countries, for instance. I actually think this is dangerous. The EU budget contributions, which are only 0.1% of your national budget, are supposed to for the EU-wide common good, not just the strong and powerful.
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Thank you Irvine for your question.
As a candidate for Internal Affairs I must say that the budget contributions are equally distributed in order of the economical capacity of each country. This means that everyone pays what they should pay in order to many factors like population, economical conditions and finally, how much can they afford to pay the European Union budget every year. But we need to say that we haven't had one for years. And also, the budget is supposed to help all the Europeans Nation, so that money is returned to you in some way.
And I'm a defender of the one nation, one vote system, as it makes our nation equal and also very attractive to those newcomers. It is true that this voting system puts in risk some very good proposals for the Union or can make some dangerous persons to vote for someone that it's very dangerous for the European Union, but that's democracy. What we need to do is try to find some way to go on with this equal treatment for nations but also, solve this problem of risking the Union.
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Well, Erling, first of all, how does it feel to have someone get your name right? I'm listening to these guys, and I'm thinking 'who's Irvine? Who's this Irvine they keep talking about, have I missed something?' And I never miss anything, so I'm thinking that's strange. But they got your name wrong, OK? Jean, I think you're having a bad time over there.
And they got your name wrong because they don't care about you. OK? The globalist politicians see people like you and they just see Euro signs. They want to take more of your money for crazy spending projects, and then they want to tell you what to do. And these countries – Duxburian Union, Angleter, Inquista, so many more – great, beautiful countries, and they're putting so much money in and the globalists in Europolis are giving them nothing in return. It's crazy, OK? It needs to stop.
We're only going to have a European Union if it can bring everybody along with it. If not, as Antoni said, everyone just ignores it, and then we have no European Union. I like having one vote for each country on the Council, OK – I’m from Pravoslaviya, so I would, right? But the Council has to show restraint. It’s got to have restraint, or it’s so undemocratic.
The Council needs to restrain itself, OK? With Firoux, and the globalist EPA in charge, it’s gone too far, and it needs to step back. We need to repeal some of the laws that Europolis is imposing on countries, like the crazy Refugee Protection Act. If we don’t, then, maybe, we have to look at changing things up, but I think with me in charge, they will.
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Thank you for that question Mr. Ives,
First, the answer is that this case is not fair for me. The solution I found is to give the decision on voting power to the hands of the people. And I think we can achieve that by fixing the European Council and put back the European Parliament. Generally, this would give way to have people decide on how many seats the parties would have, regardless of nationality, and that would mean equal and fair representation while boosting the democracy in the European Union. The budget contribution of each country rely on their GDP, while the GDP is affected by the population. Therefore, more people would mean more voting power and more budget contribution. That is what I found to be the relationship of factors affecting the European Economy when I studied economics back then. So, I suggest that increasing the voting power of the people would aid in this problem rather than decreasing the European budget.
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Thank you for your question. I believe that the EU is founded on equality between its member states, with 1 member 1 vote being the norm since the EU's foundation. I don't think this should change. The disproportionate spending is, as my friend Antoni pointed out, because larger states will use more services than their smaller neighbours. This spending only amounts to 0,1% of each nation's national budget.
I do however think that there should be a sensible level of spending. 0,1% of national budgets is a sum we should never go over with any big projects or anything else. I don't believe that the EU level , is the place for far-fetched and expensive ideas such as a pan-European railway. That's up to member states to do on a bi or tri lateral basis. This is why we need to define the areas that the European Union can legislate on. These projects that would disproportionately take money away from the richer nations of the EU should never have been allowed to be proposed, and would not be under the EPA's plan that I have sponsored for more definition of the EU Council's powers.
The Kingdom of Spain
