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Except that what really happens is that the people that get appointed to the EU Commission are usually political hacks that either never had popular support in

Except that what really happens is that the people that get appointed to the EU Commission are usually political hacks that either never had popular support in their country or lost it (see Günther Oettinger for example, that guy has been commissioner for three different things by now, is totally incompetent and can't even speak proper English). They are usually appointed through party politics not by competence and people care so little that literally anyone could be appointed anyways. The elections for EU Parliament are not taken seriously in most countries and have had extremely low turnout, by now it is full of right wing idiots from various countries. You conveniently left out the various side channels that don't even formally exist as European institutions, such as the Troika that decided on the fate of Greece, or the regular meetings of the finance ministers of the Euro Zone, which have had tremendous influence on the fiscal politics of smaller member states. Not to mention the various measures to deal with the Euro crisis by the ECB with the approval of a few large member nations, that cleverly bypassed and sidestepped many treaties and the additional European financial institutions that were created.

doikor 10y ago
It is the government of your country that appoints their member for the Commission. If they appoint shitty ones blame them. For example the current Finnish representative is Jyrki Katainen who is the previous prime minister and his party (Kokoomus) is still a member in the ruling coalition. Even though he probably isn't the most liked person anymore (his prime minister era didn't go that well) he is still well liked within his own party and they probably traded some minister seat for getting him into the Commission. Shit is politics like always but I wouldn't go as far as say that the EU is undemocratic. Also the ability to speak English isn't that important in EU level. All the big EU institutions are in Luxembourg or Brussels which pretty much makes French and German the main languages. Still there is plenty of translators available when needed. If Germany wants to keep sending Günther Oettinger as their Commissioner then the only people you can blame are Merkel and her party. Again democracy. If it matters to you make it a point in your elections. I know most people don't as in my experience most people don't have a clue how the EU works. Many of my friends think the Commissioners are just appointed by some elite instead of being each country sending their own just like the head of state is in the Council. Still you can't call a system undemocratic just because people choose not to engage in the process.
- orbifold 10y ago
  The point is whoever gets appointed as commissioner is usually two degrees removed from an election. Nobody makes a determination which party to vote for by the commissioner that party will appoint, it is not part of the political discourse during elections either. This is deliberate, as is framing their job as something technical and boring.

doikor 10y ago

It is the government of your country that appoints their member for the Commission. If they appoint shitty ones blame them. For example the current Finnish representative is Jyrki Katainen who is the previous prime minister and his party (Kokoomus) is still a member in the ruling coalition. Even though he probably isn't the most liked person anymore (his prime minister era didn't go that well) he is still well liked within his own party and they probably traded some minister seat for getting him into the Commission. Shit is politics like always but I wouldn't go as far as say that the EU is undemocratic. Also the ability to speak English isn't that important in EU level. All the big EU institutions are in Luxembourg or Brussels which pretty much makes French and German the main languages. Still there is plenty of translators available when needed. If Germany wants to keep sending Günther Oettinger as their Commissioner then the only people you can blame are Merkel and her party. Again democracy. If it matters to you make it a point in your elections. I know most people don't as in my experience most people don't have a clue how the EU works. Many of my friends think the Commissioners are just appointed by some elite instead of being each country sending their own just like the head of state is in the Council. Still you can't call a system undemocratic just because people choose not to engage in the process.

orbifold 10y ago
The point is whoever gets appointed as commissioner is usually two degrees removed from an election. Nobody makes a determination which party to vote for by the commissioner that party will appoint, it is not part of the political discourse during elections either. This is deliberate, as is framing their job as something technical and boring.