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What is democratic about the European Commission? Having an executive made up of people selected by other politicians for political reasons is all very well as

What is democratic about the European Commission? Having an executive made up of people selected by other politicians for political reasons is all very well as long as they understand that they do not have much legitimacy. JC Junker, for all that he was a bit of an old sot, understood this very well. Von der Leyen, either because of her immensely privileged background, or because of her inability to communicate in any diplomatic way, has revealed the undemocratic abomination at the heart of the European Project. Her press conference with Stoltenberg (and Belgian nonentity Michel) at the outset of the Ukraine war deprived the EU of any room for manoeuvre in relations with Russia. She unilaterally committed hundreds of millions of people to a diplomatically absolutist position. Furthermore, she actively spun against attempts by Macron and Scholz to moderate that position. The EU cannot continue like this: already I'm quite dubious as to whether it will survive the winter, with double digit inflation and mass industrial layoffs in prospect. If Putin wants to play divide et impera with Russian fossil fuel supplies, she has certainly created the ideal conditions for him to do so. She is corrupt (see Pfizer SMS) and unaccountable.

malermeister 4y ago
The commission is appointed by democratically elected heads of government, the same way the US president is appointed by democratically elected electors or the Prime Minister of the UK is appointed by democratically elected MPs. Are all of those undemocratic, too? > Her press conference with Stoltenberg (and Belgian nonentity Michel) at the outset of the Ukraine war deprived the EU of any room for manoeuvre in relations with Russia. Russia's war of aggression on our neighbor deprived us of any room for manouvre. We've seen what appeasement brings in the 30s, no need to play that game again.
- denton-scratch 4y ago
  >Prime Minister of the UK is appointed by democratically elected MPs That's not quite correct; the PM is appointed by the Queen. In the event of a revolt by the parliamentary party of government against their leader, then the party gets to appoint a new leader, who then becomes PM. But that choice is reserved to the MPs of the majority party - hardly democratic. But in the general case, there's a General Election, and the leader of the winning party becomes PM.
- argentier 4y ago
  Not every enemy is Hitler: not every attempt at a diplomatic settlement is appeasement. That's childishness, and lamentably common at the moment. The game we are playing is resulting in mass death and destruction in Ukraine, and slowly throttling the European economies. What's the point? Perhaps if you expanded your frame of historical reference you might see more clearly.
  - malermeister 4y ago
    Not every enemy is Hitler, but the one trying to find more Lebensraum for his völkisch ideology certainly is :-). Perhaps if you educate yourself more about the era you might see the parallels more clearly. You say "slowly throttling the economies", I say finally giving us a reason to accelerate investment in renewables before climate change kills us all.

malermeister 4y ago

The commission is appointed by democratically elected heads of government, the same way the US president is appointed by democratically elected electors or the Prime Minister of the UK is appointed by democratically elected MPs. Are all of those undemocratic, too? > Her press conference with Stoltenberg (and Belgian nonentity Michel) at the outset of the Ukraine war deprived the EU of any room for manoeuvre in relations with Russia. Russia's war of aggression on our neighbor deprived us of any room for manouvre. We've seen what appeasement brings in the 30s, no need to play that game again.

denton-scratch 4y ago
>Prime Minister of the UK is appointed by democratically elected MPs That's not quite correct; the PM is appointed by the Queen. In the event of a revolt by the parliamentary party of government against their leader, then the party gets to appoint a new leader, who then becomes PM. But that choice is reserved to the MPs of the majority party - hardly democratic. But in the general case, there's a General Election, and the leader of the winning party becomes PM.
argentier 4y ago
Not every enemy is Hitler: not every attempt at a diplomatic settlement is appeasement. That's childishness, and lamentably common at the moment. The game we are playing is resulting in mass death and destruction in Ukraine, and slowly throttling the European economies. What's the point? Perhaps if you expanded your frame of historical reference you might see more clearly.
- malermeister 4y ago
  Not every enemy is Hitler, but the one trying to find more Lebensraum for his völkisch ideology certainly is :-). Perhaps if you educate yourself more about the era you might see the parallels more clearly. You say "slowly throttling the economies", I say finally giving us a reason to accelerate investment in renewables before climate change kills us all.