Representative democracy.
Not sure what you mean by that comment, but the European Parliament is the only body directly elected by citizens and it has less power than other EU institutions and it can’t propose new laws. That power lies with the European Commission, which isn’t directly elected and is not accountable to the public
Read Article 10 of Lisbon Treaty.
No democracy and no sovereignty.
Exactly.
The Achilles heel of most democracies is that it allows complete numpties like me with only a tenuous grasp of current affairs to vote directly for people who govern them. Hence you end up with someone who makes the most enticing promises rather than someone who will put country before personal interest and actually get things done. Look at the recent election in USA for example.
Democracy allows even Tick Tockers like Fidias Panayiotou whose previous claim to fame seems to have been avoiding paying fares on public transport to become a MEP.
Do people still bother looking at stuff on X?
Unfortunately, we’re into our second generation of professional politicians whose only desire seems to get their place at the trough and stay their long enough to fill their pockets and Cayman Island bank accounts.
Wasn’t it Churchil that said democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others?
That’s not exactly true - yes the Commission (basically the civil service) might draft proposals based on inputs from other bodies but it is the EU Parliament (directly elected) and the EU Council (directly elected heads of state) who actually debate & vote to make EU laws.
Then it is up to the (democratically elected) parliaments of individual member states to actually enact EU laws into national laws which is the only way “EU laws” become enforceable.
There was an awful lot of uninformed debate about EU democracy during the Brexit referendum - let’s not repeat the misinformation.
, and apparently still is. I was surprised that someone who eschews MSM should choose Fidias Panayiotou as a role model to make a point.
You are surprised Mik? Frankly, I am surprised that our friend in this parish had not started a rant on this subject before now!
I’m out of my depth about EU structures at this point, can’t hold my end up about the technicalities.
I just remember that during negotiations with his EU counterparts, David Frost insisted on referring to the EU as “your organisation”, which always made me smile. Apparently it drove them mad because their vulnerability was being perceived as bureaucrats rather than a genuine civic entity.
Frost was always out of his depth and struggling. He was one of the oddest choices for the position that anyone could imagine.
I’d never heard of David Frost before his role as an EU negotiator. Before that, I’d watched that two-part documentary of Theresa May negotiating with the EU, “the clock is ticking” and all that. I’m not particularly patriotic, but I am British, and I felt embarrassed by May’s performance. By this time, I was living in France anyway, so it didn’t affect me directly, but I felt so sorry for the Brits being represented by this well-meaning but completely ill-equipped Prime Minister. When Boris appointed David Frost as chief negotiator and he treated them with equal contempt, I felt at least some kind of equilibrium had been established.
How do you watch this rubbish? A buffoon leaping around the place. BTW the leader of the UK, for example, is not elected by the people, just by party members.
Grow up.
Despite you having deigned to watch both parts of some documentary (bravo) those of us that monitored the situation in realtime might say your assessment of what happened in the negotiations is flawed. When on day one David Davis pitched up at the first meeting with few notes scribbles on the back of an envelope he was confident the German car industry, the French wine industry and the Italian olive oil (or something) industry would force the eurocrats in Brussels fold on UK demands. Well that worked out well, didn’t it?
In the end the big gun was brought in … but sadly Frost is a complete plonker and has slipped into the oblivion he deserves. He was always deservedly treated with polite contempt in Europe. In fact I think most of the “senior” British team, apart from the long suffering Ollie Robbins (now a deserved KCMG CB) were considered either plonkers or powerless.
Yes but Bernard Levin made up for it with his incisive if somewhat rude interview technique but Millicent Martin kept things light.
This is a load of rubbish, there is no democracy in the EU parliament or other facets… France is foolish to think so and are realising, so is Germany.
You clearly didn’t read the factual comment made by @billybutcher earlier in this thread.
Let me get this straight… the EU Parliament (elected) get to “debate & vote to make EU laws” but the EU Commission “basically the civil service” (ie not elected), decide what the parliament is allowed to vote on. Have I got that right?
Serious question - you think that’s democracy?