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Thread on current lack of democracy in the EU & how that can be changed
Without leaving the EU, how do national voters elect a Government to repatriate decision making powers transferred to the EU or change a decision historically taken by the EU?
Without leaving the EU, how do national voters elect a Government to repatriate decision making powers transferred to the EU or change a decision historically taken by the EU?
The honest answer is within EU you can't & as more decision making powers are transferred to EU this disconnect between electorate & elected reps widens. National Governments promise things they no longer have the power to deliver & then blame Brussels creating greater resentment
National leaders increasingly sign up to deals at EU level which they know their electorates do not support (and they would never get through at home) increasing the disconnect and the pressure builds as the demos no longer feels their views or votes matter (because they don't).
Eventually the pressure becomes too great & the system explodes. Democracy may not be perfect (look how many times the electorate had to tell its elected reps to enact Brexit for example), but it does act as a pressure release.
The solution for EU is to do what @guyverhofstadt says & make EU Parliament a real legislative assembly & not talking shop/advice giver. That provides real democratic accountability at heart of the project & gives the electorate the ability to hire and fire the decision makers.
But that requires a public recognition (of the actual reality) that nation states are subservient to the EU with powers comparable to German Lander. It also requires the EU citizens to think of themselves as one people (demos) & not as Greeks or Germans or Italians.
It also requires fiscal as well as monetary union. For the EU to control 25-30% of EU GDP (like US Federal Government), not the current 2%. For Germans to be content for continual & ongoing fiscal transfers to Greece, Italy and Spain. etc. For the EU to be a single state.
So, the EU has a choice. Maintain the current undemocratic system and watch the pressure build until the system explodes. Or instil real democracy at the heart of the system and accept the necessary fiscal integration it requires.
