5 ms·

I don't know about everyone else but we sure as hell had an election for EU parliament here in Sweden. We could elect a party, or individual MPs. During the la

I don't know about everyone else but we sure as hell had an election for EU parliament here in Sweden. We could elect a party, or individual MPs. During the last EU election here I even called individual MPs and talked to them, or their office staff, about various subjects. So they're quite accessible.

ThalesX 4y ago
They're talking about the commission, not the parliament.
- hef19898 4y ago
  And the commission is nominated by the elected governments of EU member states.
  - jansan 4y ago
    There were candidates for the commission's presidency, and Frau von der Leyen was not one of them. In fact, she was not on any lists before the election and her name only popped up afterwards, which made the whole election a farce. It's like having a presidential race between Biden and Trump and then installing Weird Al Yankovic as president after all votes are counted.
    - hef19898 4y ago
      Since the head of the commission was never ever voted for in the EU elections, who ever was proposed was just providing a face anyway. Much like the Chancellor in Germany, you vote for a party that proposed a person to become chancellor in case said party leads a coalition government. There is no way to prevent said party to just have someone else being elected chancellor by parliament. It is still democratic so.
      - origin_path 4y ago
        That's not accurate. Von Der Leyen was not proposed by any party. The parties proposed other leaders. The "spitzenkandidaten" system that led to Juncker becoming EU President was only used once and was ignored this time. In fact nobody knows why or how Von Der Leyen became the EU President, only that the council leaders disappeared into a secret meeting and at the end, the deed was done. What was discussed? Were countries bribed or threatened to go along with it? What exactly qualified her for this role given her track record of failure in Germany? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. So no, it's really nothing like the Chancellor in Germany or leadership anywhere else. The EU's own misinformation campaign around this topic is clearly highly effective. Normally, the people who run the country are elected by at least some local voters and then by the party itself. With the EU Commission, the president just ... turned up.
        foepys 4y ago
        Von der Leyen was made president of the commission because Lagarde was made president of the European Central Bank. Germany and France wanted these positions and decided amongst themselves who got which. Both wanted the ECB presidency more.
        origin_path 4y ago
        That's certainly one theory. Point is, it's just speculation. Nobody knows and the council members, despite theoretically answering to voters, systematically refuse to say anything about what goes on in those meetings. Isn't that curious?
    - data_maan 4y ago
      It seems people here from the US have fundamental misconception of how the EU works.
    - mcv 4y ago
      > It's like having a presidenctial race between Biden and Trump and then installing Weird Al Yankovic as president after all votes are counted. Is that meant to be a bad thing? Because you make it sound like a good thing.
    - checkyoursudo 4y ago
      > It's like having a presidenctial race between Biden and Trump and then installing Weird Al Yankovic as president after all votes are counted. This could still happen in the USA. The electors (the 538 people in the Electoral College who actually pick the president) could vote for anyone they wanted, and if enough wanted Weird Al then he would be POTUS. States have made laws to require electors to vote for the person who won the state election or face punishment, but that is not a Constitutional requirement or anything.
    - Calamitous 4y ago
      Honestly, I think Weird Al would be the best choice anyway…
data_maan 4y ago
That's amazing. How did you get through to them, did you just get their email from their website? We need more examples of this, to show that you can actual reach your representatives.
- pjc50 4y ago
  MEPs are surprisingly accessible, because the public and journalists hardly ever bother with them. Journalists tend to focus on domestic political theatre rather than the boring details of actual policy.
- INTPenis 4y ago
  I misremembered, it wasn't during an election it was actually when we heard about the initial voting about chatcontrol, or one of the encryption breaking propsals that preceded it. Either way, yes I was able to just call their office numbers listed on their websites and get through. I also in some cases got personal replies to my e-mails from individual MEPs. If you call their office most likely someone else will answer the phone but in some cases, if you're lucky, you can just ask if the MEP is available.
origin_path 4y ago
"we sure as hell had an election for EU parliament here in Sweden" And it was irrelevant because the EU Parliament isn't a real Parliament, no more than the assembly of representatives in North Korea is. It lacks the so-called right of initiation, meaning that only the EU Commission has the power to change the law. As a consequence nobody who cares about politics bothers going there, except in cases like Farage or Le Pen as a way to get free money they can spend on campaigning against the EU as a concept. Why would anyone who cares about politics spend their time in a body where political ideas are worthless because you aren't allowed to propose them? Would you like more evidence? The commissioner who made this tweet about the DSA flew over to California and told Musk to obey the new regulations before the EUP had even had a chance to vote on it at all. In a normal government, the legislature has to actually vote to pass new rules before the executive tells people to comply. But the EUP is a rubber stamp designed to grant the surface level appearance of legitimacy to the Commission's decisions, not a body that can actually keep the EU in check, so Breton didn't even bother waiting for it before starting to implement the DSA. That's how much the EU itself cares about its "Parliament", so why should anyone else care?
simonsarris 4y ago
really?! All this time. Why didn't you fix the thing where they decided every single website should have a popup, instead of browser vendors having an option?

ThalesX 4y ago

They're talking about the commission, not the parliament.

hef19898 4y ago
And the commission is nominated by the elected governments of EU member states.
- jansan 4y ago
  There were candidates for the commission's presidency, and Frau von der Leyen was not one of them. In fact, she was not on any lists before the election and her name only popped up afterwards, which made the whole election a farce. It's like having a presidential race between Biden and Trump and then installing Weird Al Yankovic as president after all votes are counted.
  - hef19898 4y ago
    Since the head of the commission was never ever voted for in the EU elections, who ever was proposed was just providing a face anyway. Much like the Chancellor in Germany, you vote for a party that proposed a person to become chancellor in case said party leads a coalition government. There is no way to prevent said party to just have someone else being elected chancellor by parliament. It is still democratic so.
    - origin_path 4y ago
      That's not accurate. Von Der Leyen was not proposed by any party. The parties proposed other leaders. The "spitzenkandidaten" system that led to Juncker becoming EU President was only used once and was ignored this time. In fact nobody knows why or how Von Der Leyen became the EU President, only that the council leaders disappeared into a secret meeting and at the end, the deed was done. What was discussed? Were countries bribed or threatened to go along with it? What exactly qualified her for this role given her track record of failure in Germany? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. So no, it's really nothing like the Chancellor in Germany or leadership anywhere else. The EU's own misinformation campaign around this topic is clearly highly effective. Normally, the people who run the country are elected by at least some local voters and then by the party itself. With the EU Commission, the president just ... turned up.
      - foepys 4y ago
        Von der Leyen was made president of the commission because Lagarde was made president of the European Central Bank. Germany and France wanted these positions and decided amongst themselves who got which. Both wanted the ECB presidency more.
        origin_path 4y ago
        That's certainly one theory. Point is, it's just speculation. Nobody knows and the council members, despite theoretically answering to voters, systematically refuse to say anything about what goes on in those meetings. Isn't that curious?
  - data_maan 4y ago
    It seems people here from the US have fundamental misconception of how the EU works.
  - mcv 4y ago
    > It's like having a presidenctial race between Biden and Trump and then installing Weird Al Yankovic as president after all votes are counted. Is that meant to be a bad thing? Because you make it sound like a good thing.
  - checkyoursudo 4y ago
    > It's like having a presidenctial race between Biden and Trump and then installing Weird Al Yankovic as president after all votes are counted. This could still happen in the USA. The electors (the 538 people in the Electoral College who actually pick the president) could vote for anyone they wanted, and if enough wanted Weird Al then he would be POTUS. States have made laws to require electors to vote for the person who won the state election or face punishment, but that is not a Constitutional requirement or anything.
  - Calamitous 4y ago
    Honestly, I think Weird Al would be the best choice anyway…

data_maan 4y ago

That's amazing. How did you get through to them, did you just get their email from their website? We need more examples of this, to show that you can actual reach your representatives.

pjc50 4y ago
MEPs are surprisingly accessible, because the public and journalists hardly ever bother with them. Journalists tend to focus on domestic political theatre rather than the boring details of actual policy.
INTPenis 4y ago
I misremembered, it wasn't during an election it was actually when we heard about the initial voting about chatcontrol, or one of the encryption breaking propsals that preceded it. Either way, yes I was able to just call their office numbers listed on their websites and get through. I also in some cases got personal replies to my e-mails from individual MEPs. If you call their office most likely someone else will answer the phone but in some cases, if you're lucky, you can just ask if the MEP is available.

origin_path 4y ago

"we sure as hell had an election for EU parliament here in Sweden" And it was irrelevant because the EU Parliament isn't a real Parliament, no more than the assembly of representatives in North Korea is. It lacks the so-called right of initiation, meaning that only the EU Commission has the power to change the law. As a consequence nobody who cares about politics bothers going there, except in cases like Farage or Le Pen as a way to get free money they can spend on campaigning against the EU as a concept. Why would anyone who cares about politics spend their time in a body where political ideas are worthless because you aren't allowed to propose them? Would you like more evidence? The commissioner who made this tweet about the DSA flew over to California and told Musk to obey the new regulations before the EUP had even had a chance to vote on it at all. In a normal government, the legislature has to actually vote to pass new rules before the executive tells people to comply. But the EUP is a rubber stamp designed to grant the surface level appearance of legitimacy to the Commission's decisions, not a body that can actually keep the EU in check, so Breton didn't even bother waiting for it before starting to implement the DSA. That's how much the EU itself cares about its "Parliament", so why should anyone else care?

simonsarris 4y ago

really?! All this time. Why didn't you fix the thing where they decided every single website should have a popup, instead of browser vendors having an option?