Euromania
In this documentary Peter Vlemmix, the author of Panopticon, explores the expanding powers of the European Union. The European Union is the greatest project in modern history. It's a wonderful achievement. Europe is freedom, it means no more war, it means 500 million Europeans and 28 countries, which have one coin, and live in the healthiest and safest part of the world. Peter is proud European, he can travel without borders and he grew up in peace. And today many people see Europe as "the answer."
But Peter is also a Dutch. He lives in the small flat Holland with its unique liberal mindset. You could say that Holland is his country, but what is a country anyway? A country is its people, very different mixed people that have something in common that is unique. They share a culture, books, common memory, etc. Maybe you'll see him as nationalist but in fact there are many things he doesn't like about his country... like early dinner times, crappy music, the Royal Family or carnivals.
But he noticed that something is happening to his country. Europe is becoming more and more involved every day. It advises the mothers how to have babies, how much energy they can spend, and the size of their strawberries. Netherlands is working very closely with Europe so Peter decided to find out the answers to some of his questions. Is there a limit in the cooperation between Holland and Europe? What is the end goal of the European Union? And where is his voice in Brussels?
Brussels is getting more and more involved in the laws of the sovereign countries in the EU. Although the lawmaking is one of the most important parts of a country most of the Netherland's laws are not anymore made there but they come from Brussels. It's a uniform product... the same rules for each country. But besides handing over its lawmaking Holland can no longer decide its own budget.
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