4 ms·

For this reason the article seems at least a little alarmist. It wouldn't be news that Estonian politics is delving into censorship/surveillance; tacking on "E

• mseebach 9y ago
  It's not the least alarmist. The EU Presidency is an real office that has a real function, and the leaked document literally says in the first line "From: Presidency".
• digi_owl 9y ago
  There are times i wonder if politicians use EU as a "trump card". This in the sense of getting it into a EU directive and then turning around to the nation, stating as it is part of an EU directive their hands are tied...
  • allendoerfer 9y ago
    They definitely do that in Germany.
    • hooph00p 9y ago
      examples?
      • matt4077 9y ago
        The ban on incandescent lightbulbs went that route (for Germany): agreed to be the right thing to do but fraught with the possibility of attack by populists decrying the nanny state.
  • Cthulhu_ 9y ago
    Oh they could, and it might be easier since as far as I know, the general population has very little influence over who gets to sit in the EU government.
    • casiotone 9y ago
      You mean aside from the fact that MEPs - the politicians sitting in the EU government - are elected by the general population?
      • allendoerfer 9y ago
        The MEP are not part of the government, they are part of the parliament, which is elected by the public. The EU comission (which is the government), is decided upon by the national governments. Only the head of the comission was elected (indirectly) by the people. Edit: Btw, the head of the comission is more like what the US would think of an actual president. The president, OP talks about is more like a representing nation.
        • richrichardsson 9y ago
          The EU commission is also indirectly elected by the people in a (maybe tenuous) way. Member state populations elect their national governments, those governments put forward commissioners. They're not that much different to civil servants in national government really.
          • petre 9y ago
            We do not elect the national goverments. We elect political parties in the national parliament who then form a government or a coalition and appoint comissioners in the EC. There is in fact little representation.
        • germanier 9y ago
          The whole Commission has to be approved by the European Parliament, not just their President. The European Parliament has forced the European Council to remove candidates before approving the Commission multiple time in the past. In that sense the Commission is more directly elected by the people than e.g. German ministers (who can be chosen at will by the Chancellor). And of course the national governments are elected (indirectly) by the people as well which makes everyone who they elect also indirectly elected (albeit through more indirection).
  • gsnedders 9y ago
    There's a long list of cases where the UK has done this…
    • scottmf 9y ago
      Could you share some?
  • wsc981 9y ago
    Has happened in The Netherlands as well, sadly.
  • gozur88 9y ago
    It would surprise me if they didn't.
• icebraining 9y ago
  It's a proposal to be implemented EU-wide, not just in Estonia, so the presidency seems relevant.
  • allendoerfer 9y ago
    But the presidency has no actual power to get it passed.
    • mseebach 9y ago
      No, they have the power to "call for" it, which is what they have done (and the article says they've done).