Our children will become equal Europeans in the EU


Macedonia started negotiations with the EU through screening of legislation. Good luck with that. Why?

I hope that in 7 or 8 years our children will have more rights on the European continent than now. Here are some examples of what EU membership means.
We will have the right to work in EU member states without a work permit, the state institutions of the country where you work (for example, Germany) have an obligation to help you find a job.
Employers have a legal obligation to treat you as well as they treat their German employees. Otherwise, you have the right to appeal to the EU Ombudsman (which is quite effective). If you lose your job, you can stay there and look for another job. In some countries, you are eligible for social assistance if you are unemployed.
You have the right to an additional pension if you have worked there. The right to be treated in the EU member states and to be reimbursed to you. To buy medication and the spent money to be returned to you, to live in another country and to be health insured. The right to education at all levels in the member states. Travel rights, short stay, pensions, scientific work, rights as consumers… almost everything has been regulated.
I hope that our children will become equal citizens of the continent, with equal rights like the Austrians, the French, the Finns…
Moreover, those who will say – okay, but what about identity? In response to this question, you should open the first page of the EU website. When you click on it, you will see inputs to all official languages. For more information on what I write, you can, for example, click on the link in Croatian or Bulgarian or English. Well, when we become a member, there will be one in Macedonian language and Cyrillic alphabet. This is identity. As well as the restoration made 10 years ago, for example, of the church “St. Athanasius” in Staro Nagoricane and the Lesok monastery with the money of the taxpayers of the EU. These churches are also identity, right, aren’t they?
Not to mention the state’s approach, businesses, civil society organizations to the Cohesion Funds, where there are 352 billion euros for the period 2014 – 2020.
Of these, 182 billion are for less developed regions, such as Bulgaria or Romania. Financing of transport, environment, small and medium-sized enterprises etc. For comparison, the one-year budget of the Republic of Macedonia is about 4 billion euros. Here is the source of the EU website, for example how much it spends and how much Bulgaria gets from the EU:

Breakdown of Bulgaria’s finances with the EU in 2016:

  • Total EU spending in Bulgaria: € 2.345 billion
  • Total EU spending as % of Bulgaria’s gross national income (GNI): 5 %
  • Total Bulgarian contribution to the EU budget: € 0.382 billion
  • Bulgarian contribution to the EU budget as % of its GNI: 0.81 %Well, I do not even know how to interpret these 2.345 billion euros. I seriously ask –can someone tell me how much this sum of 2,345 billion euros is? Is it possible?
    The story that there are many expenses is a myth. Yes, there are expenses, but for us they are very low. For example, 60% of the EU budget is filled by 4 states (19% Germany, France 16.3, UK 13.5, Italy 12.5)
    Croatians spent only 25 euros per year for the EU per capita, while Finland spent the most – 240 euros per capita.

    Valentin Nesovski

(The author of this Facebook status is a media and public relations consultant)