tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post7472444741029486971..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: Postcards from the edge of EuropeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-55570583053347359642017-10-10T12:01:37.218+01:002017-10-10T12:01:37.218+01:00Thanks for that Paul. Your contribution is possibl...Thanks for that Paul. Your contribution is possibly the most informed and informative discussion of Brexit that I have seen on any classical forum. It makes a refreshing change from all those re-tweets of the Guardian's audience-whoring anti-Brexit scaremongering. Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-67331220964403143662017-10-10T10:12:09.341+01:002017-10-10T10:12:09.341+01:00Perhaps someone from one of the orchestras picks u...Perhaps someone from one of the orchestras picks up on this and can give an insider viewpoint. My own guess (as an interested outsider who also runs a small business here) is that there is minimal effect because Norway, in most of the fields that would affect an orchestra, to all intents and purposes <i>is</i> a member of the EU (EEA member, inside the single market and Schengen). Being outside the customs union is possibly a hassle when it comes to moving instruments around, but otherwise I can't think that there are major areas where being formally in or out makes much difference. <br /><br />The same is true in most fields (except for the specific exclusions such as agriculture and fisheries) -- the Norwegian approach is a very pragmatic have cake and eat it while accepting that one has no control over the ingredients one. A workable solution for a small country with 50/50 divided population, but probably not a good idea for a large country with 50/50 divided population. pnmoslohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02189686574257417415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-28118002245081717472017-10-10T09:54:18.551+01:002017-10-10T09:54:18.551+01:00Paul, I have thought further about your observatio...Paul, I have thought further about your observation of the "unfathomable tragedy" of Brexit.<br /><br />As someone who also values the humanitarian ideals of European unity it is a view I have considerable sympathy for. <br /><br />But the little-understood self-interested and cynical subversion of those ideals by the EU superpowers and Germany in particular is in my view an even greater tragedy.<br /><br />So the balance of the tragedies prompts me to now take a more open-minded position on Brexit. Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-14498009687333480832017-10-10T09:17:58.179+01:002017-10-10T09:17:58.179+01:00Paul, thanks for that viewpoint. None of us, inclu...Paul, thanks for that viewpoint. None of us, including the politicians, know the answers. But facts rather than speculation help. It still surprises me that more attention has not been focused on Norway in Brexit discussions. <br /><br />You highlight that Brexit poses a threat to the flexible intra-European market for (largely freelance?) musician. Norway's status as a Schengen signatory makes inter-European travel easier. But there are many other implications of Norway not being an EU member. Are there any case studies that can be shared of how the Oslo Philharmonic or other Norwegian ensembles have been affected by Norway not being part of the EU? <br /><br />At the time of the referendum I too considered Brexit a disaster. But progressively my views have changed, and that change has been influenced by the crackpot behaviour of many anti-Brexiteers - incidentally I do not number you among those. <br /><br />Yanis Varoufakis' memoir may be coloured by his political convictions. But its exposé of the self-interested machinations of the EU superpowers still makes salutary reading.<br /><br />Thanks again for your contribution. Pliablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10616598845886342325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-39173315692392320602017-10-10T08:08:48.047+01:002017-10-10T08:08:48.047+01:00Bob: as I've understood it the main issue is t...Bob: as I've understood it the main issue is the impact of Brexit on <i>European</i> musicians -- ie. participants in the flexible intra-European market for (largely freelance?) musicians that has developed during the last four decades, and on which many ensembles rely and even more benefit from (as you say).<br /><br />In this respect I would have thought Schengen as such was irrelevant -- Schengen is (in this context) just a practical arrangement built on top of the principle of free movement of labour in the EU single market. The UK not being in Schengen but in the single market is an administrative issue, but not a big problem. The UK not being in either Schengen or the single market, on the other hand, would potentially kill off British participation in this field.<br /><br />A separate issue is that of non-EU-citizen musicians with visas for the Schengen area who face problems (or don't bother) with UK entry. Or vice versa. A big issue for the individuals and ensembles involved, but not game-changing. <br /><br />Of course the impact on the music industry is just the tip of the iceberg -- as a member of the generation of British citizens who reached adulthood as the UK entered the EEC and the process of European integration really started, and as an individual who has seen, appreciated and benefited from the process throughout, both personally and professionally, Brexit is just a unfathomable tragedy.<br /><br />Paul in Oslo <br /><br />pnmoslohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02189686574257417415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-61111174208959572352017-10-09T22:28:40.310+01:002017-10-09T22:28:40.310+01:00You highlight the fact that the Brexit debate has ...You highlight the fact that the Brexit debate has little basis in fact. I voted to leave because I am uneasy about the undemocratic aspects of the EU and the way that it is so rapidly becoming a kind of Greater Germany. It was Germany who insisted on the austerity packages for the Southern States. It is Germany who runs surpluses while the youth of Southern Europe are jobless. I would imagine that most of the music conglomerates are big in Germany. And lots of people are eager to tell us that the EU has kept peace in Europe since 1945. It's easy to forget Hungary 1956,Czech 1968,Kosovo, Romania, Greece in the late 60s, Poland in the 80s. But they were not in the EU. The bullet and shell holes still remain, though Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11007306140530173428noreply@blogger.com