In response to Brexit is a Religious Battle (And You Can’t Negotiate Religion), a number of commenters missed a key point: the blatant hypocrisy of Germany on the freedom of movement of goods and services.
Here is a key snip from the above article.
EU Hypocrites on Free Movement of Services and Freedom of Establishment
To understand the hypocrisy inherent in free movement of services, look no further than French rules on nearly everything. Businesses cannot fire workers, move elsewhere, shut plants, etc.
Worse yet are totally arcane rules and regulations in Germany.
A prime case in point is Germany’s Apprenticeship System.
After 18 months of study, $2,200 in tuition and three exams, Ewa Feix is now permitted by German law to bake two variations of cupcakes.
“Not pretzels, not Black Forest gâteau, not bread,” said Ms. Feix, a Canadian who moved to Germany in 2009. Becoming a professional bread baker entails a three-year apprenticeship and more exams.
Germany’s thicket of rules and standards shields roughly 150 professions from competition, from ski instructors to well-diggers. Stiff fines await uncertified practitioners. German authorities conduct thousands of enforcement raids each year.
Strong middle-class support, particularly among Chancellor Angela Merkel’s supporters, means the German system has defied repeated attempts at reform.
EU Hypocrites on Free Movement of Persons
The EU “Dublin” rule requires an asylum seeker to register in the first country the refugee landed. How did that work out? And how many cascading walls in how many countries came about as a result? Is bribing a country with payments as Germany did Turkey in the spirit of the rule? What about the positions of Austria, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic?
US Regulations Irrelevant
In response, one reader pointed out varying regulations between states in the US.
So what? Two wrongs don’t make a right. Second, no one is going to kick Illinois out of the US because of silliness in Chicago.
I also heard “Mish’s rhetoric sounds like he is against the apprenticeship rules.”
Let’s discuss that topic.
Apprenticeship Rules
I am not against apprenticeships, I am against mandated ones.
Who cares if someone makes inferior cupcakes, unless they are outright poisonous or otherwise unsafe for consumption?
If someone bakes bad cupcakes, word will get around and no one will buy them. The free market can easily sort out the good cupcakes from the bad.
Absurd rules and regulations in the US, where they exist, have nothing to do with the key point: The EU wants the UK to abide by freedom of movement of services and jobs, when Germany puts up all kinds of roadblocks denying just that.
The point is blatant hypocrisy. Stupider yet, Germany allows these refugees to enter, then will not let them setup business.
Angels Merkel effectively says:
The door is open, come on in, everyone is welcome! Just don’t setup a bakery, until you have a license that you cannot afford, or an apprenticeship you cannot get because no one will hire you!
Yes, that’s great for German bakers who have more people to eat cupcakes at the expense of the average taxpayer.
I wonder, if Germany let Syrians come in and setup bakeries, would Germany be so willing to let in the refugees?
I used a bakery as an example. The same applies to hundreds of trades. There is no freedom of movement of services or freedom of establishment.
The holier than thou religious insistence that the UK accept “four freedoms” that Germany does not abide by is blatantly hypocritical.
Merkel may as well hold up a sign “Free handouts, everyone welcome, competition not allowed, violators unwelcome, please go home”.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
