American Reacts to The European Union Explained

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[dan_kay]

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.

[henrikfrost]

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.

[Gasthauz]

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.

[attilaabonyi]

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

[HighTenner]

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.

[kripolik]

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.

[exjc]

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

[anniehope]

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.

[realhawaiio]

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.

[gossguy]

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

[LucianoMMatias]

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.

[zweispurmopped]

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! 🥰🤗

[ulvsbane]

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.

[willy]

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

[MLWitteman]

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.

[tarquinmidwinter]

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. 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

[sunrae]

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.

[TheRaphael]

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 ^^

[enemixius]

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".

[BradGryphonn]

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.