The European Free-Trade Agreement Conference

[Gebiv]

"On your issues, in order

"We agree with open borders, and currently have such a policy with every nation except Rebel Virginia and their MDAP allies. We are currently starting to open the borders a bit to the Greater German Reich due to their recent actions.

"We have always thought tariffs an idea that only causes economic downturn, and have never used one in the history of our nation. Gebiv will remain tariff-free, and we encourage others to do the same.

"We are not in favor of using a universal currency. The Gebivian Pound has yet to fail us. We haven't used the same currency as anyone since the time of the EuII several years. (OOC: 10 RL months) We don't feel returning to that time when the Pound is working so well.

"We don't bail out our own citizens, and don't think it proper to do any different for Europe."

[DeSchaine]

Cearul O'Connell spoke up. "There is another problem besides the immigration. Contraband. As of right now, Taeunas does not have a large problem with drugs or illegal weapons being smuggled in. If we are going to put into place an open border policy, this must be addressed and an acceptable solution found.

"It would be acceptable to Taeunas for this gathering to come up with a Pan-Euro tariff rate, applicable only to goods from European nations. I will say however, that in order to make up the difference, Taeunas plans to raise its tariffs on non Euro goods.

"Lastly, we support a universal European currency, but only as its value is placed against the Taeunas pound. If this comes to pass, then we propose to phase out placing the value of the Taeunas pound against all other European currencies. We suggest that each nation do the same with relation to their own currency, but do it wisely. Too much or too little vlaue against the Euro as compared to other nations against it, will cause instability in all markets."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Then we have two problems to address." Sarah scribbled down on a sheet of paper in front of her. "Firstly, who will be conducting border and harbor patrols and customs. Secondly, tariff rates on European countries to non-European countries." She looked up. "As I said before, we will need to decide whether or not the customs and border patrols should be monitored by the individual country or if the Grand Army of Europe could step in to do customs checks and guarding on the non-European borders. On the tariff idea, I would be fine with installing a non-Euro tariff, but as for between our countries, I figured the material could enter without penalty of cost. Completely free."

Looking at Mr. Gjokaj and then the British Queen, Sarah turned back to Miss O'Connell. "I think we will have to scratch the idea of a universal currency. Two many powers are against it and unless we had almost a unanimous vote from everyone in Europe I don't believe it would have the effect we would want. We will hold of on the currency talks until another time.

[Gebiv]

"Woah there, what were you saying about the Grand Army of Europe?"

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Woah there, what were you saying about the Grand Army of Europe?"

"I don't agree with it either, Your Excellency, but if they are going to be in Europe we might as well use them as the peacekeeping force that they proclaim themselves to be. I would rather however, the individual countries protecting their own borders."

[Gebiv]

"I would prefer the idea you would rather take."

[Justinian the Mighty]

Slavorussia will patrol its own borders. No Grand Army of "Europe" will set foot inside Slavorussia. We don’t even allow our Russian allies militaries in our country except during emergencies.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"I would prefer the idea you would rather take."

"Then it will be the duty of the individual countries who have a border with non-European nations to protect that border. Can everyone agree to that?"

[Arkantos]

OOC: Approve the Artemis so I can come...

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The Artemis is approved for clearance in Helsinki harbor.

OOC: You know I said you could just arrive and skip the RP of getting there.

[Arkantos]

OOC: I know. I thought I would bring a battleship to the party.

IC: We have no land border, and thus Atlantis is neutral on the debate of the border patroling.

[Mirreille]

Minister Loos gets heavily to his feet, with an uncomfortable look on his face. It's soon becomes apparent that his weight problems are not the only reason for such an expression.

"These issues have been raised many times before, specifically they were debated heavily during the UES's formation period. There were difficulties during the negotiations then, and Europe is clearly more divided now then it was during that period.

Open Borders are of course very good for economies, but we would never agree to such a policy outside of nations that we trust completely. Just hearing the representative from Gebiv saying they have open borders with many nations is disturbing enough that we are going to have to mention this to the Queen, because even thoughwe have open borders with Rebel Army and Gebiv, we assumed they are conducting reasonable border security measures. To be more specific, we would not agree to such a policy unless we were militarily treatied to such a nation. Anything else is folly. We have some of the strictest immigration laws in Europe for a reason.

Tariffs are something we can agree on, as they hurt everyone in the long run. We employ a tit-for-tat policy, and only have tariffs on goods from nations that place such on ours; this has worked fairly well for us so far.

Universal currency is probably something you will not be able to attain. The UES had a UES currency, but national currencies were still recognised, that is probably the best you will be able to get people to agree to. Frankly though, we hope this idea dies on the table, as we view such a currency to be potentially destabilising and a possible tool for foreign governments to try and interfere in our economy.

Economic Aid should be left up to the individual nations as to whether they want to or can afford to help others. There are some nations whose human rights records are such that we would never aid them, and we have little to no contact with them altogether. Why should we help strangers? We know who our true friends and brothers and sisters are."

[steodonn]

Dun Carrig supports all the points raised so far except the universal currency. It is vital that we are able to control our own economy interest rates ect

[DeSchaine]

Taeunas will certainly never allow GAE troops or security forces into our nation. I believe each nation should be responsible for their own security and customs.

We support the tariff plan as it has been mentioned by the PM.

[The Confederation]

"To preserve the neutrality of The Kingdom of Prussia, I must decline to an open-borders policy concerning non-commercial traffic. However, I would be willing to arrange an "easy-visa" program between citizens for travel purposes. That goes the same with a common currency."

He wrote something down in his notebook.

"Hmmm...in concerns to Free-trade, The Kingdom is always open to trading with every nation, tax and tariff free, and would love to sign a measure regarding this. I believe economic freedoms between nations always spawn civil and political freedom."

He smiled.

"Now...in regards to the GAE peacekeeping force. I believe they have good intentions for the future of Europe, however they are far from a force that can act in the interest of all parties in situational conflict. I propose that a European Neutrality and Mediation force is created in Königsburg--part of a neutral nation. The purpose of this office would be to create a neutral policing force to regulate violence in Europe. It will also be used as a center for diplomacy across Europe in order to defuse conflicts in Europe and conflicts involving Europeans around the world."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Placing her fingers over her eyes and rubbing the stress out of them, Sarah sighed. They were getting nowhere with this meeting. The currency would have to be dropped there was no doubt about that, a universal currency could only work if some of the stronger nations in Europe (i.e.; The United Kingdom, Gebiv, etc.) were in on the idea. Loos was pretty much right and though Sarah didn't delve intently on European and for that matter world history, the nations would probably never agree, especially with the establishment of the various blocs.

"Excellencies, we have had two of these meetings in the past and I understand why we have had such a hard time agreeing on these issues. But for this meeting to be a success we have to act on matters that the whole of Europe can agree on. I am in favor of ceasing talks on a universal economy. On the foreign aid idea, I agree with Loos, there are some nations in the world that I would like to see wiped on the face of the planet and the thought of being forced to give aid would bother me, because their use of that aid would be less than honorable. However few of you have said negative things on the free-trade agreement and I think we should talk more about that then."

"I assume, but please correct me, many of our nations already have various free-trade agreements with neighboring countries and I don't believe that any country in Europe right now is deemed untrustworthy, even the German-Gebiv incident was handled with extraordinary results, peace. Putting this right out there, I would be still be in favor of a treaty dissolving tariffs on goods coming from European countries, naturally many would raise the tariffs on non-European goods. Now I am sure that some countries would benefit slightly more from this, those that import almost exclusively from European countries, however I would imagine that the free-trade would offset any economic problems that would come about with the raising of non-European tariffs. However I would like to know any problems that could come out of free-trade. If not, and only if we agree, we could indeed putting a free-trade agreement to paper."

[Comrade]

Vice President Mob Barely, in a confused stance, looks around the table at all the talking people. He then remembers he is there to watch molakian interest, not sample the local "Cuisine".

"Molakia has very few land borders, namely with Hansa and Neo Franz, and we trust their ability to police borders, so Open Borders in OK by us. As for trading....Molakia does not produce much in excess besides Agriculture, namely Cereals and Rubber. We need to protect our limited industry as such, and require tariffs on all goods imported."

"As for Univeral Currency....Molakia believes that while it makes commerce easier, it also ties economies together too much. We also enjoy our fancy looking Roubles and will reject a universal currency."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Kaiser I definitely approve of an easy-access travel pass, but I believe that would be better suited for an individual country to make that call. I can assure you though that I will be looking into that situation to make borders easier to come into for frequent travelers, maybe the idea of a new passport system to come into place. As for the neutral police force, I would be willing to place a contingent of troops for this office and it helps me know that since Prussia has already declared its neutrality that a Prussian lead force could look at certain situations with a much cleaner eye."

She turned to the Molakian. "You've brought up a good point as well sir, earlier I believe that Taeunas had talked about not entirely dissolving of tariffs but a lower standard of payment for European tariffs. That way, you would still bring money in and still create a profit, but other European countries could export their goods to you at a much more reduced cost." Sarah looked at the various representatives. "What about that then Excellencies, a reduced tariff, we could still bring money in but it would be low enough not to have a severe impact on our economies, placing European tariffs extremely low."

[Comrade]

"Molakian Industry is almost required to have moderate tariffs, or our people will suffer. The only industry that can do without it is our Technology Sector."

[Mirreille]

Minister Loos replies to the Hansa leader's question,"As we said before we only have tariffs on those nations who place such on our goods, regardless of the levels of trade on either side. Our economy is robust enough that we can afford a little imbalance here and there. There are a few nations we might have objections to, but for the most part those are nations that we don't do business with in the first place, so we can sign a tariff treaty as you have proposed."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"We seem to finally be getting somewhere then." Sarah smiled. "Concerning Molakia however, maybe we might be able to just free the tariffs that constitute their technology sector. If they are the only country that requires this exception to stay a float then, I have no problem in giving it to them. But just looking at free-trade, what else do you all think? We would need an almost unanimous vote for this to have a strong effect in Europe, but I think we could do it. Excellencies?"

[Arkantos]

"Free trade would and should be possible in Europe. Atlantis would agree to a free trade agreement, and it could lead to future cooperation among European nations."

[DeSchaine]

Ambassador O'Connell tapped her finger on the table. "That would be acceptable to us, however, may I suggest that the state of Molakian affairs be evaluated once a year and their status changed when they reach a certain level of growth? It would not be wholy fair for them to be the only nation to be able to collect reduced tariffs, but I can see giving them time to rise to a higher level of self sustainment before imposing this fully upon them. I would think we should also apply this process to all small or new nations."

[welshgazza1992]

"I've just been on the Phone to my husband, King Douglas. He'll be touching down at a nearby airport within the next few minuted. He's been consulting with many business and economic officials in the UK."

[Proxian Empire]

OOC: I am not bothering to RP arriving that is always awkward.

IC: King Douglas entered the room quietly and nodded an apology for his late arrival, "My deepest apologies for my untimely arrival. There was a great concern with the British Prime Minister which I needed to discuss privately."

Taking his seat next to his wife, he listened intently as she gave him a brief summary over what had occurred.

"I am pleased to know that this nonsense over a universal currency has been dropped. We will accept nothing that restricts or inhibits British people and our currency is our business alone. As such, we have no interest in pursuing the elimination of tariffs as this will merely result in cheaper east European goods flooding into the United Kingdom to harm self sufficient British interests and business. We simply will not allow such misery to befall the people we are sworn to protect.

Nonetheless I see many friends in this room who open their arms to us in a friendly gesture; we would not seek to isolate our friends and we will not reject your requests entirely. We are willing to reduce our tariffs by 20% to seek economic cooperation with you all, but no more. We hope this would be an acceptable counter-proposal.

However, border barriers have been nothing more than a nuisance in these years of increasing European cooperation. There is no reason a man from Glasgow should need to go through so much hassle to pursue business ventures in Gebiv or elsewhere. After a brief discussion with my beloved wife, I am willing to accept such needed change in these times."