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The EU says it will introduce a digital payments infrastructure to replace Visa/Mastercard & Apple/Google Pay. It will have zero fees and be 100% European-only. (archive.ph)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/futurology@futurology.today
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"It didn’t go unnoticed in Frankfurt that Visa and Mastercard suspended operations in Russia in March 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine……Thirteen of the 20 countries in the euro have no domestic card scheme. You use an international operator, or you pay in cash."

It hasn't gone unnoticed that the US is threatening to invade an EU country's (Denmark) territory, either. Would a future President Trump or President Vance threaten to shut down European financial infrastructure if it opposes an annexation of Greenland? Who knows, but better to take away that opportunity for leverage.

The plan is that you can link it to your bank account or open a special account at post offices throughout the EU. There will be phone apps for payments and digital Euro debit cards. Visa/Mastercard & Apple/Google Pay typically charge 3% fees; the digital Euro will have none. That will ensure it is speedily adopted by retailers and quickly supplants the US providers. Also worth noting its technology will be 100% European only, leaving zero vulnerability/leverage to non-Europeans.

Digital euro: what it is and how we will use the new form of cash - The European Central Bank is determined to break the US grip on card payments

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[–] 3 points 10 months ago*

Thank you.

The UK has more of a set of conventions and principles than a constitution. We found out how weak that is when Boris Johnson broke the rules of Parliament to avoid losing a vote on Brexit, and made the Queen lie about it publicly in the formal announcement of the proroguement.

One of the principles is that no Parliament can bind its successor. For example, there was a fixed term parliaments law from 2010 or so that said that you need a two thirds majority to call an election before five years is up (rather than at whatever time suits the incumbent prime minister); when a new Parliament was elected in 2015, one of the first things they did was rescind that law, with a simple majority.

I worry that Farage, friend to trump and follower of Bannon, will become prime minister and lead us to such destruction that we will write an actual constitution, but that didn't do America any good once the supreme court was stuffed with Republicans loyal to trump.

I think the trick is to not elect tyrants, but Putin's propaganda reaches worldwide and the far right is rising everywhere. Perhaps it really will be global thermonuclear war this time.

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