Comments on: Slouching toward Strasbourg

By: Matt W

Matt W — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 23:14:22 +0000

Dear Scott MacMillan, I would like to invite you to join http://www.journalistid.com
It is free and i am impressed by your article quality.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 15:22:33 +0000

In fact, if you want a laugh, suggest that the problem with the EU is that its overly bureaucratic and as a result more power should be given to the Parliament.

The assertion that parliaments are necessarily less bureaucratic than other bodies, seems a bit optimistic to me.
Anyway, rarely ever we see a transfer of powers to the parliament. What we have right now is an additional power given to parliament. It may mean a comission with a more democratic odour, but the process itself has become more complex.

By: Scott MacMillan

Scott MacMillan — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 20:03:45 +0000

Mark, I agree 100%. My intention was not to highlight any similarities between the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament. As you point out, there are virtually none. Indeed, most U.S.-E.U. comparisons are wide of the mark, and I perhaps should have inserted a disclaimer to that effect. The comparison was between public and journalistic reactions to the U.S. system of checks and balances versus the same reactions to the (albeit nascent) European system of checks and balances. When checks and balances are working in America, they’re seen as the regular machinery of democracy. When it happens in Europe, everybody starts screaming “institutional crisis! institutional crisis!”

By: Mark Amerman

Mark Amerman — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 16:44:54 +0000

Since the European Parliament is the only elected part of the EU
it seems odd to call it undemocratic. Did they really? Now if I
were to call it undemocratic, I would say it’s undemocratic because
the European Parliament has so little power. Kind of a mockery of
democracy, a fig leaf, a charade even within it’s own roost — but
then in effect I would be pro-parliament and yet anti because it’s
powers were so limited and debased.

If I understand correctly the European Parliament’s refusal to
approve a slate of candidates is just about the only real power
it has. (Note that they aren’t proposing candidates; note that
apparently they can’t vote to strike individual candidates; etc.,
etc. Note that employees of the EU can be fired by the EU on the
grounds that they cooperated with the European Parliament!)

Therefore the comparison of parliament to the U.S. Congress just
doesn’t seem apt. Congress has near infinite theoretical power: it
can impeach presidents; it can remove any judge, including Supreme Court
justices; and it can interfere in and specify any detail it takes
an interest in. A unified Congress can do anything it wants
to. The only restraint being: it’s so difficult to unify.

The contrast between the powers of the U.S. Congress and the
powers of European Parliament is extraordinary. It’s like
the Congress is a car and the European Parliament is a wheel
spinning by itself in space. It’s true that a car has wheels,
but to call a wheel a car on that basis is just plain wrong.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 06:55:01 +0000

The last thing that the Eurosceptics want is for the European Parliament to get any democratic legitimacy. In fact, if you want a laugh, suggest that the problem with the EU is that its overly bureaucratic and as a result more power should be given to the Parliament. The reaction you get is usually adverse, and usually very amusing. Eurosceptics, especially the press, in Britain are highly xenophobic, but cover this up most of the time because it is much more convenient for them to attack bureaucracy, which is a generally unpopular thing. Basically, they want Britain out of the EU almost totally, and they think that we have “surrendered too much of our powers” already. So the anti-Parliament beef is more to do with trying to deny the EU any democratic legitimacy.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 05:46:01 +0000

There is an obvious question. If the parliament refuses a commission for reasons of ideology, the EU is heading for a Westminster style of parliamentary governments.
How is that to work in a body as diverse as the EU with dozens of parties in parliament?