Fight for snus. Denmark attacked

[precious007]

There is a massive difference between Norway & Sweden!

Norway has an even less dense population than Sweden for it's size, and it has massive resources in North Sea oil and gas which Sweden does not. That is why Norway does not need the EU!

When I went over to Norway a few years ago - I could not believe their prices for things compared to the UK. One beer was equivalent to £10 (€12) in a bar - and that was in 2007. People didn't blink at those prices because their wages are so high in Norway. And the people were definitely derogatory to the Swedes and the EU - one even said that they were not worried about Sweden at all because if they wanted to they could buy Sweden. There is a long history of rivalry between the two countries, and for most of that time Sweden was the rich cosmopolitan neighbour to Norway's fishermen and farmers before the oil and gas was discovered in the 1970s.

The Sweden of today is still a very prosperous and progressive society with respect to the rest of Europe - but you should not compare them like-for-like with Norway.

been living in Norway 6 years, know too well the difference

same prices were back in 1994 - 2000 (salaries for a manager position exceed $20,000 a month so money isn't a problem for most in norway)

what makes the difference is not only a higher income but Norwegians have a much solid social system put in place than Sweden does, in all areas. (life security is a lot higher)

the population in norway is not less denser (15/sqkm to 21/sqkm - Sweden), it's less smaller than in Sweden it's just that they're only 5 million (most live in the capital Oslo)

anyway I don't see what is your point though

Sweden was good as it was, shouldn't have joined the EU, by all means

[GN Tobacco Sweden AB]

There is a massive difference between Norway & Sweden!

Norway has an even less dense population than Sweden for it's size, and it has massive resources in North Sea oil and gas which Sweden does not. That is why Norway does not need the EU!

When I went over to Norway a few years ago - I could not believe their prices for things compared to the UK. One beer was equivalent to £10 (€12) in a bar - and that was in 2007. People didn't blink at those prices because their wages are so high in Norway. And the people were definitely derogatory to the Swedes and the EU - one even said that they were not worried about Sweden at all because if they wanted to they could buy Sweden. There is a long history of rivalry between the two countries, and for most of that time Sweden was the rich cosmopolitan neighbour to Norway's fishermen and farmers before the oil and gas was discovered in the 1970s.

The Sweden of today is still a very prosperous and progressive society with respect to the rest of Europe - but you should not compare them like-for-like with Norway.

Does Norway produce things that of big value worldwide ?? Exept gas and oil, do not things so, 9,5 million Sweden has 45 billion over capacity yearly , does Sweden needs EU or EU needs Sweden people from UK particularly English I noticed are the best Communists over here- I will explain what I mean , as soon I say that Sweden is a donor Sweden pays most to his people capacity , people from England come and say " no, it is not like that, Sweden is on 8 place by donating and so on" which means in another words there is nothing special with you guys shut up and obey EU orders couse you do not have that power....... I understand those words like that . Just a brands for your info which would make proud any nation proud ABB, Skania, Erikson, Astra Zeneca, Pharmacia, Electrolux, Volvo , Gripen fighters in the world one of 2 countries who inveted biogas along with Japan and fabrics which producing it long before many of you have heard about it,strange inaf country which produces kosmic technologies for I am sorry for my British brothers NASA, now about Norway - Norway even do not have normal infrastructure , Precios you well should know that the highways are veins of the country , Norway is capitalistic countrie , which you can not say about Sweden in Norway Worker is Worker and Boss is Boss , In Sweden worker is similar to boss , boss is similar to not worker , Now about that Norway can buy Sweden hahahahag well Germany's Angela Merkel with MAN ( company ) wanted to buy Scania ... Do they succeed ... Not , but Swedish Vatenfall bildning Atomic Stations in Germany ,and own them, SEB bank owns second German Bank , maybe Sweden Can by Norway ha?
Situation is like this Sweden do needs EU for one reason and it is ....... Russia, do you want to know why...???

[GN Tobacco Sweden AB]

Just forgot one thing in Sweden There are 7000 trees on each living person here, in our mines do not work people just robots in wight lifting they use Swedish metal couse it's the best , taken from mine by those robots We even do not produce Fashionable cars that much couse Sweden is SOCIALISTIK , and in Sweden is not good maner to talk about königseg ( fashionable car producer) couse we Are SOCIALISTIK ... We needs to help Portugal , Greece , estern Brothers ,
Children in Afrika , Not Children in Palistine.... I do not say it is wrong I just say , Sweden can do his bissnes his way , and Dalis and Barossos and Andriotis can go and you know the rest

[charmando]

how's switzerland doing surrounded by EU countries. I may be selected to do an internship there with the pharmaceutical company Novartis. I'm sure if you know them you're probably not a fan and neither am I, just trying to get some experience.

[Ephemeris]

GN had it right- the EU needs Sweden much more than Sweden needs the EU. It wasn't so long ago that Sweden refused to join the EU because of their snus ban, and only until the EU relented did Sweden reluctantly join.

Sweden has remained financially prosperous while most European countries are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy simply because they've refused to play ball with the EU on most issues. The EU has been forcefully trying to get Sweden to go along with its measures while Sweden (very politely) rejects them. Ask the typical Swede what s/he thinks about adopting the Euro and they'll laugh at you (again, very politely).

So will Sweden drop out of the EU if they ban snus? Maybe. A lot of it depends on who's in office at the time. There's a growing group of mostly young progressives in Sweden that want to be less Swedish and more European; that is, they're ashamed of traditional Swedish folk traditions like snus and hunting and want to do away with it. Had these people been in charge back when the EU was offering membership on the condition that Sweden ban snus, who knows? None of us would probably be here right now because snus would be illegal even in Sweden.

But one thing that strikes me about traditional-minded Sweden more than any other European country I've ever been to is that Swedes seem the most "American" in terms of not really caring what the rest of Europe thinks about them. They value their independence (even more than Southern Italians, which I thought was impossible) from the Euro zone and it seems to me like they're just waiting for an excuse to leave the EU. This proposed snus ban may be it...

[Ephemeris]

how's switzerland doing surrounded by EU countries. I may be selected to do an internship there with the pharmaceutical company Novartis. I'm sure if you know them you're probably not a fan and neither am I, just trying to get some experience.

If I had to live in Europe, it would be in Switzerland. Switzerland is made up of all the people that left Germany, France and Italy because they wanted to own guns.

[precious007]

@GN

I though Electrolux was Romanian.

GN had it right- the EU needs Sweden much more than Sweden

EU needs anyone, it's a Globalisation where only the main "brain" benefits.

the rest are sucked under the wheels as is already happening in all states.

Even italy that was economically growing, now goes through the toughest financial times they have ever been through since 1920 - 1940 when every Italian and their mother left to US for a better life.

[Jan]

Btw just started thinking here, why EU is so against snus and it's connections with €. As the Maastrich criteria says Sweden must join the eurozone anyway despite they turned it down first time. So maybe EU just puts a pressure on Sweden through snus banning and somewhere deep down in the EU offices they have agreed that if Sweden accepts to take euro right now there will be no ban. EU gets another faithful follower to € zone and Sweden gets to keep their snus.


Just a wild thought....

I am not sure Kevin. Countries that joined the EU in 1994 (Sweden, Finland... there might be another one or two, don't remember) have the right to keep their old currency for as long as they choose to (monetary union and the euro was not yet in place at the time of joining). Former Eastern block countries however (those that joined from 2004 onwards) are obliged to introduce the euro sooner or later, as soon as all Maastricht criteria is fulfilled.

There is no way Euro can be a stable currency ... because of so many different economies sharing it. Public opinion in Sweden, Denmark and the UK is firmly against the euro at the moment (Renico, Ansel, correct me if I am wrong)... and we can expect the euro to become even less attractive when currupt non western a....holes like latvia, romania and bulgaria start using it.

[Jan]

Does Norway produce things that of big value worldwide ?? Exept gas and oil, do not things so, 9,5 million Sweden has 45 billion over capacity yearly , does Sweden needs EU or EU needs Sweden people from UK particularly English I noticed are the best Communists over here- I will explain what I mean , as soon I say that Sweden is a donor Sweden pays most to his people capacity , people from England come and say " no, it is not like that, Sweden is on 8 place by donating and so on" which means in another words there is nothing special with you guys shut up and obey EU orders couse you do not have that power....... I understand those words like that . Just a brands for your info which would make proud any nation proud ABB, Skania, Erikson, Astra Zeneca, Pharmacia, Electrolux, Volvo , Gripen fighters in the world one of 2 countries who inveted biogas along with Japan and fabrics which producing it long before many of you have heard about it,strange inaf country which produces kosmic technologies for I am sorry for my British brothers NASA, now about Norway - Norway even do not have normal infrastructure , Precios you well should know that the highways are veins of the country , Norway is capitalistic countrie , which you can not say about Sweden in Norway Worker is Worker and Boss is Boss , In Sweden worker is similar to boss , boss is similar to not worker , Now about that Norway can buy Sweden hahahahag well Germany's Angela Merkel with MAN ( company ) wanted to buy Scania ... Do they succeed ... Not , but Swedish Vatenfall bildning Atomic Stations in Germany ,and own them, SEB bank owns second German Bank , maybe Sweden Can by Norway ha?
Situation is like this Sweden do needs EU for one reason and it is ....... Russia, do you want to know why...???

Norway is not a tax funded economy (like Sweden), it is oil funded economy. What sense does it make then to keep taxes this high? While getting paid whopping wages they are spending on things that would otherwise cost a lot less... there would be no need to inflate the salaries if things cost less. Money collected on overpriced goods then goes back again to pay those huge salaries....
What Norway has achieved though, it has priced itself out of the tourism market for millions of people. I have only been to Norway once and for a very short stay but I remember my shock when credit card statement arrived from bank. Breakfast egg that cost an equivalent of 5 euro and of course snus that is twice as expensive in Norway than it is in Sweden.
Norway is a country I like very much but cannot afford to visit.

[kevs]

Nope they have to join €zone but as Swedish people are smart enough they keep their inflation rate about 1% higher than needed to join € and they haven't joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (because it's voluntary) but regulations say that you must be a member of it at least 2 years before joining the zone. In that way it's all legal, but that might be one of the reasons why EU is decided to pressurise Sweden in other ways.
But it's just a speculation and in my mind pretty intersting connection. Ofcourse if some EU official is reading this right now (hello there, hope you're doing fine smoking pack a day and eventually dying to lung cancer, but hey at least you got shitload of money, yay!!) , I might end up in jail for doing suspicious activities, lol

[precious007]

Norway is a country I like very much but cannot afford to visit.

There are places in Oslo where you can stay for 50 euros per night (and cook your own food if you like to get a cheaper vacation)

The museums and main attractions are expensive (but they're all well worth the money).

Other than that, Norway is an expensive country, but people do earn a fortune in Norway (a lot more than in Sweden, Finland and Denmark)

Everyone in Norway in my neighbouhood (Lived in Oslo) - had two cars - a large villa - a boat .... and pretty much the average norwegian afford quite a luxurious life (they are very modest when it comes to clothing, but the house can amaze you sometimes, and that's all because of the high living standards).

Anyway, Norway is stunning! If you've got the money to go there sometime in the future, it's well worth the money ............... I would recommend going in the winter, to see all the Christmas traditions and snow, and skiing, the frozen fjords.

[chossy]

Jan, help me, what should i do on my leisure time in Riga?

Going for two days on wednesday

[Jan]

Hej Chossy!

Are you coming for business? If so there is nothing much to do in the evening apart from having a drink... we have the old town but its far from being as magnificent as Stockholm's Gamla Stan..... pls email me at janisvinATgmail.com and I'll try to come up with some suggestions..

[SnusDirect.com]

We got alot of e-mails from customers residing in Denmark that wants to order. But that is something we or any online retailer can not allow them to.
This is unfortunately something we will have to stick too until the European Union ban on snus is removed.
For those living in banned countries I recommend you all to sign up to www.wewantsnus.com to get the word out.

Johan

[Mayhart]

Holy crap! Now Denmark aswell?... Around 90% of my snus intake are from V2 products, if the company ends up closing doors or is forbid to ship to my country i'm pretty much F*#ED. That's it ... i need to go back living in Oslo/Stockholm and solve the issue once and for all. (LOL, a bit extreme, but i shouldn't have left in the first place)

I've been reading about how EU might reverse the bans on snus mumbo jumbo for some months now but it seems they're actually trying to make it worse and strangle the overall EU snus sales. (You don't really believe they care about the consumers do you? its all about the precious €€€'s, and the tobacco industry. It's a really nice paradox. )