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Estonian President Expresses Desire For More Digitally-Integrated Europe (arstechnica.com)
In a wide-ranging interview with Ars Technica, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik talked about European Digital Single Market (DSM), an ambitious goal that seeks to make commerce flow as smoothly across the 28-member block as it does in the United States. He cites the example of iTunes. From the report: What Estonia and Finland are doing is a step towards the DSM -- but there remain all kinds of national-level laws that stop Europe from being truly unified. "Take iTunes," President Ilves continued. "iTunes are based on credit cards. Credit cards are national. I cannot buy an iTunes record for my wife who has a Latvian credit card. I cannot buy her an iTunes record because I have an Estonian iTunes. This is true of virtually everything that is connected to digital services. And certainly this is why Estonia is at the forefront of the European Digital Single Market. As I like to say, it's easier to ship a bottle of Portuguese wine from southern Portugal in the Algarve and sell it in northern Lapland, than it is for me to buy an iTunes record across the Estonian-Latvian border."The report is worth a read in its entirety.
Western culture creeping in and taking over the whole world, only because some exec guy in a suit gazing out from his 100-storey office building sees your country as another "untapped market" that might yield a few dollars/euros if squeezed hard enough
The US has a protection on its market on cotton, because otherwise African countries would be competitive.
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
At least if we are talking Swedish Lapland, customs will intercept the shipment of wine, an hold it for weeks, and tax it so it is more expensive than locally bought (very expensive) wine, and also force you to pay for the joy of being taxed, a taxation fee of around €13 last time I got taxed.