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> does any of their actual constituency want it? While one can technically argue that the EU Commission has constituency, it's worth noting that it's a few lay

> does any of their actual constituency want it? While one can technically argue that the EU Commission has constituency, it's worth noting that it's a few layers of abstraction away: Commissioners are typically people with industry background who are nominated by the "EU Council". The EU Council is in turn made up of state leaders. (The "EU Parliament" is a separate body that is actually elected by voters). Lobbyists also have much more direct access to commissioners than any constituents ever would. For some context, Thierry Breton is the current EU Commissioner for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, Defence Industry and Space, Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. His background is running France Télécom & acquiring Xerox IT outsourcing. (He's also the former French Minister of Finance, but ministries are not elected positions in France).

native_samples 4y ago
In theory Commissioners are appointed by the Council. In practice the head of the Commission has a veto. In the treaties this veto power doesn't exist, but Juncker admitted he regularly vetoed appointees and it's unlikely vDL gave up that power. So that leads to the question of how the head of the Commission is picked. Again, by treaty it's up to the Council to decide. How do they do that? Nobody knows. They walk into a room and have a secret meeting, at the end they jointly announce the decision. Is there a vote? Does everyone even get to express their view? Do countries make threats to get their way? How are the candidates selected? What did the different country leaders think? Do their statements in private even match their statements in public (sometimes not, it seems). The process is entirely opaque. After that was done, just to make the comparisons with North Korea super-duper obvious, they gave the European Parliament a "vote" on who should be Commission head. The voting slip had a single option on it - vDL. MEPs could either vote for her, or not vote at all.
orwin 4y ago
He basically destroyed Bull's engineering culture, and still help them get contracts they don't deserve, by "subtle" political pressure. If you want to get on European PPPs as a tech company, better have good relation with Bull/Atos. My former manager worked at Thompson during Breton's presence there, let's say he was unsurprised when he learned about the suicide waves at France Telecom. I don't know much about corruption, but he is the prime example of what i would consider corruption in France.

native_samples 4y ago

In theory Commissioners are appointed by the Council. In practice the head of the Commission has a veto. In the treaties this veto power doesn't exist, but Juncker admitted he regularly vetoed appointees and it's unlikely vDL gave up that power. So that leads to the question of how the head of the Commission is picked. Again, by treaty it's up to the Council to decide. How do they do that? Nobody knows. They walk into a room and have a secret meeting, at the end they jointly announce the decision. Is there a vote? Does everyone even get to express their view? Do countries make threats to get their way? How are the candidates selected? What did the different country leaders think? Do their statements in private even match their statements in public (sometimes not, it seems). The process is entirely opaque. After that was done, just to make the comparisons with North Korea super-duper obvious, they gave the European Parliament a "vote" on who should be Commission head. The voting slip had a single option on it - vDL. MEPs could either vote for her, or not vote at all.

orwin 4y ago

He basically destroyed Bull's engineering culture, and still help them get contracts they don't deserve, by "subtle" political pressure. If you want to get on European PPPs as a tech company, better have good relation with Bull/Atos. My former manager worked at Thompson during Breton's presence there, let's say he was unsurprised when he learned about the suicide waves at France Telecom. I don't know much about corruption, but he is the prime example of what i would consider corruption in France.