3 ms·

This is still early days, it's just a draft of a negotiating position from 1 of 3 EU powers. As mentioned in TFA: > talks haven't finished [...] Nothing is set

by toyg 3y ago

This is still early days, it's just a draft of a negotiating position from 1 of 3 EU powers. As mentioned in TFA: > talks haven't finished [...] Nothing is set in stone. Once the Council has agreed on its mandate, it will have to negotiate with the Parliament — which has yet to reach its position — and the Commission before the new rules can enter into force. (Even the "enter into force" is debatable, should really read "be approved" - enforcement might come at later date, or even never.) And yes, the European Council sucks. It's full of these directly elected members of national parliaments, always so keen to pander to the electorate.

morsch 3y ago
The European Council essentially consists of the heads of state of the EU governments, which may or may not be members of their respective national parliament. I guess it's a minor nitpick. But it directly represents the national executive and not the legislative bodies.
- toyg 3y ago
  Yeah, my main point is that saying "the EU" when talking about the Council can be disingenuous - technically it's more like "national governments of member countries" rather than the institution. Both Commission and Parliament are technically closer to expressing the will of "the EU" as a body than the Council.
  - somewhereoutth 3y ago
    Though sovereignty and final power flows from the Council. Compare with the US system where sovereignty comes from the US as a whole and is delegated down to the States.
    - toyg 3y ago
      > Though sovereignty and final power flows from the Council. Eeehh... This is an open point of law, technically. Per Maastricht treaty, the European Parliament has co-decision powers, and its consistent electoral system arguably makes it more directly representative of European people than national governments. Parliament "stared down" the Council on occasions. The Council/Commission/Parliament setup is really not the finished article, I expect things will change again before the end of the century.

by toyg 3y ago

morsch 3y ago

The European Council essentially consists of the heads of state of the EU governments, which may or may not be members of their respective national parliament. I guess it's a minor nitpick. But it directly represents the national executive and not the legislative bodies.

toyg 3y ago
Yeah, my main point is that saying "the EU" when talking about the Council can be disingenuous - technically it's more like "national governments of member countries" rather than the institution. Both Commission and Parliament are technically closer to expressing the will of "the EU" as a body than the Council.
- somewhereoutth 3y ago
  Though sovereignty and final power flows from the Council. Compare with the US system where sovereignty comes from the US as a whole and is delegated down to the States.
  - toyg 3y ago
    > Though sovereignty and final power flows from the Council. Eeehh... This is an open point of law, technically. Per Maastricht treaty, the European Parliament has co-decision powers, and its consistent electoral system arguably makes it more directly representative of European people than national governments. Parliament "stared down" the Council on occasions. The Council/Commission/Parliament setup is really not the finished article, I expect things will change again before the end of the century.