Comment on European Commission rejects new laws for Stop Destroying Videogames
DupaCycki@lemmy.world 2 days agoMy country’s government has been democratically elected. If it makes terrible decisions, the people have the choice of electing a different one. In theory at least.
The European Comission is not democratically elected, and regardless of how batshit insane its decisions are - we have no legal pathway of changing it.
The European Comission is not ‘the political system’ of the European Union. It’s one part of it. A part that is undemocratic and needs reforms as soon as possible.
Jiral@lemmy.world 2 days ago
The EU commission is elected by the directly elected European Parliament based on suggestions by the Council/member states. The Commission can be voted out of office anytime when it loses support in the European Parliament.
The Austrian government is elected by Parliament based on suggestions by the Chancelor candidate (the latter chosen by the President). The parliament can vote the government out of office anytime.
According to you the one thing is utterly undemocratic while the other is not. ok.
The EU Commission is not the EU, but it is its executive and administration. I f you just kill that, you let everthing derail. Bureaucracy is a dirty word but there without it political entities implode.
DupaCycki@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I don’t know why we’re suddenly talking about Austria - a country I’ve never mentioned, because I’ve never been there and know little about it.
Judging solely based on your description, it does sound similar to the European Comission. I wouldn’t say either is particularly democratic. Both seem quite similar to the Chinese democracy, which is rarely referred to as democracy at all in the West.
This is wrong. The European Parliament does not elect anybody. The president of the European Comission is chosen by the European Council, while the rest of the comissioners are chosen by the Council of the European Union.
The Parliament only gets to vote on the final result, as usual. Theoretically, it can vote against the proposed Comission, or put a motion of no confidence in the Comission. Both of these only have limited realistic use, because the Parliament still cannot put forward its own nominations.
Sources:
Jiral@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I am talking about Austria because to compare it with other parliamentary democracies it helps to chose one concrete example, you can chose another one if you like. How about Germany, the largest member state. There Parliament’s position in this regard is actually weaker than in Austria.
I have no idea where you are coming from but you seem to lack knowledge how parliamentary democracies work if you hold the completely outlandish view that they are on the same level as the Chinese system in terms of democracy.
Back to the EU Commission. Its election is obviously a system where both, the Council / member states and the EP hold power. (“election” is the word in the treaties btw) This is by design. Power is not centralised. It is common in parliamentary democracies that parliaments elect/consent on members of the government but don’t choose them. However government with members that are not to the liking of a majority in Parliament won’t be elected/voted into power. The same is the case in the EU and there is precedent for that as well. The vote on VdL yielded a paper thin majority im the EP and only because VdL was giving the EP concessions in return. If the EP targets candidates as not acceptable they will not make it into the Commission. Again, there is precedent for that.
If that sounds like Chinese dictatorship to you, half the democracies (ie all parliamentary democracies) on earth are in reality a Chinese style dictatorship. Seriously?