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elriclast Monday at 12:02 PM1 replyview on HN

So what you're saying is: countries elect politicians in national elections, some of these politicians (typically the prime ministers) form the European Council, they propose a President of the Commission, the ruling government of each country then proposes one unelected Commissioner to join that Commission.

I still think it's fair to say that the Commission does not represent the people. It is many steps removed from the people. Nobody voted for any of them.

According to wikipedia, this point of view makes me a euroskeptic. Which is not something I consider myself to be, I'm a big proponent of cooperation between European countries. But I am certainly very skeptical of unelected government officials deciding on far reaching legislation that infringes upon fundamental liberties. With zero political repurcussions or liability.


Replies

munksbeerlast Monday at 3:33 PM

It is easy to make any argument you want when this is unscientific. But it is easy to draw a line from the elected heads to state (the governments of the member countries) pushing for this, right through to the elected European Parliament (elected MEPS). The Commission is a civil service, doing the bidding of the Council, and then proposing laws to the elected Parliament.

I can't really picture what a better structure would be. The elected member state governments should always be the ones driving policy. They need a way to get that done outside of their usual national structures and civil servants, so they create the Commission. People also want to feel represented in the final votes so we create the Parliament.

What would your structure look like?