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> Also forced EU voters to consider how much they value these services It's been a while since I left Europe, and I'm rusty on that particular layer of civics.
by shykes 4mo ago
> Also forced EU voters to consider how much they value these services
It's been a while since I left Europe, and I'm rusty on that particular layer of civics. Do EU voters actually have a say in this kind of regulation? Or is it all decided on the executive side which is only accountable to member states and not to individual citizens?
- christkv 4mo agoNone. The EU is getting more and more un democratic by the year. More power centralized in the bureaucracy vis regulations and other mechanisms.
- solid_fuel 4mo agoYou have anything to back up that claim, or is it just knee-jerk drivel with no evidence based on your feelings and distrust of scary government bureaucrats?
- Saline9515 4mo agoWhy is chatcontrol being pushed every year by the european commission, while people and their representatives are in majority against it? Besides given the amount of lobbying in the EU institutions, it's obvious that citizens don't have a chance against corpos with infinite money.
- Muromec 4mo agoBecause puritans gonna puritan and security services want to read your comms. That's like any day of the week everywhere since forever.
- jyounker 4mo agoAnd how is that different from any other governmental level? Seriously, we in Berlin got a freeway that nobody I know wanted or wants. It's not the EU's fault.
- Saline9515 4mo agoIn a classic democracy, the Parliament can repeal laws, unlike in the EU.
- miroljub 4mo agoDo you have any evidence supporting the notion that EU decisions process is democratic?
- asdfasgasdgasdg 4mo agoThey do have a say. They can elect representatives who could change the legal framework and the incentives for the bureaucrats, or even remove the ability of the bureaucrats to regulate certain things. Then these regulations would not get passed and that would be that.
- eastbound 4mo agoWe have a say at a 4th level of derived decision, which is 2 levels more than what people call a democracy. Also, the other political party will do it too. = We don’t have a say. We voted NO to the new EU treaties in 2008 and the new president decided that electing him meant that we approved the same treaties. They only let us vote when we agree, anyway.
- Henchman21 4mo agoVoting the world over is a joke. IIRC it was Carlin who said “if voting mattered they wouldn’t met us do it”.
- afthonos 4mo agoPeople the world over: (die for the right to vote) One comedian: LOL they only killed them to make you think it was valuable. The Internet: (sagely) What a wise assessment by a wise man of wisdom.
- meta_gunslinger 4mo agoTons of people have died for a variety of causes throughout human history. It does not mean that the causes were not silly or deluded. (e.g religious wars, Communism, Fascism etc.)
- afthonos 4mo agoCarlin didn’t say it was silly, he said it didn’t matter. Religion, communism, fascism were all world-defining ideas, and they very much mattered to those who fought for them and against them. What am I saying, “mattered”. Go check social media, they matter right now.
- BurningFrog 4mo agoYou get to vote for one of ~5 alternatives every 4 years. This then propagates to hundreds of decisions in a way that dilutes your influence to practically nothing.
- coldtea 4mo ago>Do EU voters actually have a say in this kind of regulation? Barely. >Or is it all decided on the executive side which is only accountable to member states and not to individual citizens? It's decided by a mix of unelected bureucrats and opaque procedures people track even less than their national politics.
- tonoto 4mo agoIt might be that we have a say, but there are a lot of decisions happening in Brussels that it "feels like" we, EU voters, don't have a say in. Such as: - Chat Control - Vehicle regulations (mandates on "eCall", disturbing audio visuals and other "safety measuers) in Regulation (EU) 2018/858 - Eventual upcoming ethanol restrictions - Ban on plastic drinking straws - Drink caps that are stuck to the bottles - Ban on plastics with one hand, on the other handd there are huge plastic enclosers for batteries, scissors and in countries with a "green" profiles, such as Netherlands it seems impossible to just buy one or two apples - you have to buy a emplastered six pack of apples (lots of waste if I just wanted one apple).
- consp 4mo agoDon't know where you get your apples but I can buy 1 if I want. Just not at the supermarket since they optimise to sell you more than you need. No regulation involved here.
- singpolyma3 4mo agoI can also buy 1 at the supermarket
- mulmen 4mo agoCare to share your secret?
- tonoto 4mo agoI believe it was both in Albert and Aldi (during 2023). Felt really awkward to waste fruit, but that's nice that there are sanity among other stores. I get it that folks can be annoyed when I hand pick my potatoes at the grocery store to match for size and to have good coloured exemplars, but to pick and choose is one of the few delights buy groceries.
- cogogo 4mo agoHave to say I love the drink cap thing. It makes a lot of sense. The caps wind up everywhere so the regulation probably/most likely does some good (have not seen any data so who knows). But once you get used to it you appreciate not being able to lose the cap. Straws seem pretty useless to me in general so why not avoid plastic? but that is probably a me problem. Plastic on fruit is annoying as hell but it is not a mutually exclusive problem.
- miroljub 4mo ago> Do EU voters actually have a say in this kind of regulation? EU voters don't have any saying in any EU level regulation. The EU regime do basically what they want.
- mrln 4mo agoWhile the democratic process in the EU deserves its criticism, this is plain wrong. EU citizens can vote for the EU parliament.
- miroljub 4mo agoAnd EU Parliament can't propose a new law. Or propose to change a law. How super democratic.
- mrln 4mo agoYup, but laws have to be approved by the EU parliament and that's not just a formality. As I said, I do think it is valid to critizise that system, but what you stated is plain wrong and even when I pointed it out you wouldn't admit it.
- aucisson_masque 4mo agoEU has a parlement and a commission.
- Danox 4mo agoThe lawyers and the politicians make the decisions. You really don’t think it’s the common man or woman. So there’s a year or two year tape delay.