10-28-2004, 06:08 AM | #1 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: In me taters
Posts: 3,288
|
EU Commission gets its arse kicked
Background: The European Commission is the EU's most powerful body. They draw up and implement most of the laws and programmes of the EU. The Commission is led by a set of Commissioners, who are nominated by the member states and appointed to lead specific areas of government by the President of the Commission.
The only directly elected body is the European Parliament. In theory the Commission is accountable to the Parliament, but in practice Parliament has very little power to influence the Commission. However, yesterday the Parliament was about to veto the whole Commission because of the views of some of the incoming Commissioners. As a result, the President withdrew his proposals. Barroso thinks again (BBC) Who else thinks it's great that the European Commission got the bum's rush from the Parliament? Could it be that the European Parliament is finally getting some teeth? Has anyone stayed awake to the end of this message? |
10-28-2004, 06:26 AM | #2 |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
I think it's fantastic. Took them long enough to get there, but at last they're doing something other than just agreeing to everything the Commission does.
Enjoyable as this is, however, it's not an example of democracy. The Parliament isn't expressing the views of EU citizens in doing this (or has there been a huge popular movement I missed, on this topic which about one in every hundred people cares about?) and the Commission will still have all the power when they finally get accepted. It's a gesture towards democratic accountability for the Commission - but they need to be properly elected!
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
10-28-2004, 11:03 PM | #3 |
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Plainsboro, NJ
Posts: 9,431
|
I saw this on french news and then BBC tonight. At first he said he wasn't changing the people in his commission - now from what I understand he is and he's saying it will take a month or something before he submits them again. Also - isn't the EU Constitution up for a vote? I didn't catch it all.
__________________
Come back! Come back! To Mordor we will take you! "The only thing better than a great plan is implementing a great plan" - JerseyDevil "If everyone agreed with me all the time, everything would be just fine"- JerseyDevil AboutNewJersey.com New Jersey MessageBoard Another Tolkien Forum Memorial to the Twin Towers New Jersey Map Fellowship of the Messageboard Legend of the Jersey Devil Support New Jersey's Liberty Tower Peacefire.org AboutNewJersey.com - New Jersey Travel and Tourism Guide |
10-29-2004, 08:50 AM | #4 | |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Lindon
Posts: 637
|
Quote:
__________________
**************************************** "None are more hoplessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Reality is just an illusion, albeit a very persistent one - Albert Einstein The Caffeine Mantra It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Brazil that the thoughts aquire speed, The hands aquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion... Elvellon Erelion |
|
10-29-2004, 08:52 AM | #5 | |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Lindon
Posts: 637
|
Quote:
__________________
**************************************** "None are more hoplessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Reality is just an illusion, albeit a very persistent one - Albert Einstein The Caffeine Mantra It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Brazil that the thoughts aquire speed, The hands aquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion... Elvellon Erelion |
|
10-29-2004, 01:44 PM | #6 | |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
Quote:
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
|
10-29-2004, 02:16 PM | #7 | |
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Plainsboro, NJ
Posts: 9,431
|
Quote:
__________________
Come back! Come back! To Mordor we will take you! "The only thing better than a great plan is implementing a great plan" - JerseyDevil "If everyone agreed with me all the time, everything would be just fine"- JerseyDevil AboutNewJersey.com New Jersey MessageBoard Another Tolkien Forum Memorial to the Twin Towers New Jersey Map Fellowship of the Messageboard Legend of the Jersey Devil Support New Jersey's Liberty Tower Peacefire.org AboutNewJersey.com - New Jersey Travel and Tourism Guide |
|
11-01-2004, 05:34 AM | #8 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: In me taters
Posts: 3,288
|
The leaders signed up to the Constitution at the weekend, but most countries will have a domestic referendum on the Constitution. Bliar has promised one in the UK after he wins the next election.
Me, I think it's great, particularly since all the individual country governments were really pushing their parliamentary representatives to support the incoming commission. The EU has for too long been mostly a playground where countries trade off each other in their own national interests (i.e. French farmers). Maybe there's a chance that a greater political perspective can prevail. * Notices that the right are now demanding that a left-winger resign to balance the loss of Buttiglioni * Oh, well, it was nice while it lasted. EDIT: Beezer avatar, Elvellon! Last edited by The Gaffer : 11-01-2004 at 05:42 AM. |
11-01-2004, 05:48 AM | #9 | ||
Elf Lord
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: In me taters
Posts: 3,288
|
Quote:
These people are our directly elected representatives, so their views are ours as far as democracy is concerned, unless you want them to have a referendum on every topic that matters to "one in a hundred" of us? I would have thought that Buttiglioni's views were unconstitutional, since equality (gender and sexual orientation) is part of the EU constitution and one of it's core values: Quote:
|
||
11-01-2004, 09:36 AM | #10 | |||
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
|
Quote:
BTW, "their views are ours"? I hope it's the other way around Quote:
Quote:
__________________
And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
|||
11-01-2004, 10:52 AM | #11 | ||
Elf Lord
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: In me taters
Posts: 3,288
|
Quote:
Personally, I think it would be a total disaster if we had referenda the whole time. It would be impossible to have any kind of strategic policital planning. (Some might say we wouldn't notice the difference, of course). I agree, though, that they have so little opportunity to assert themselves except in such a dramatic fashion, as they did a few years ago when they sacked the entire Commission for being corrupt and incompetent. See how they learned their lesson? A good first step would be to rack up the power of the oversight committees, though there is always a danger there of them being hijacked by interest groups. Quote:
Last edited by The Gaffer : 11-01-2004 at 10:55 AM. |
||
11-02-2004, 07:43 AM | #12 | |
The Intermittent One
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: here and there
Posts: 4,671
|
Quote:
|
|
11-02-2004, 04:56 PM | #13 | |
The Blobbit
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Kent, England (Not Oxford! ... yet...)
Posts: 1,596
|
Quote:
Which is more important 'what is right' or democratic choice? This to me 'is right'. It is only because the vast majoirty of the populace believe that men and women are equal (as I do) that it is considered right. But what if the decision of the US election goes to me? I happen to think that a certain Mr. Bush is better than a certain Mr. Kerry. I hear people calling for a different take on 'what is right'.
__________________
Janny's Songs Janny's lyrics and random photographs Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who happen to be walking about. ~ Mercutio... erm, GK Chesterton. |
|
11-02-2004, 06:17 PM | #14 | |
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Plainsboro, NJ
Posts: 9,431
|
Quote:
It's not just America arguing about gay marriage - but Europe is too. Someday it may be normal thing and people of the future may look down upon us - or think we didn't go far enough. or they may think that marriage itself was a stupid tradition. But right now it's the majority that determines are morality and what society believes.
__________________
Come back! Come back! To Mordor we will take you! "The only thing better than a great plan is implementing a great plan" - JerseyDevil "If everyone agreed with me all the time, everything would be just fine"- JerseyDevil AboutNewJersey.com New Jersey MessageBoard Another Tolkien Forum Memorial to the Twin Towers New Jersey Map Fellowship of the Messageboard Legend of the Jersey Devil Support New Jersey's Liberty Tower Peacefire.org AboutNewJersey.com - New Jersey Travel and Tourism Guide |
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
9/11 Commission Report | jerseydevil | General Messages | 20 | 08-02-2004 03:46 PM |
I kicked bmilder's arse at Stratego! | gdl96 | General Messages | 10 | 08-07-2001 05:57 AM |
I kicked CT's arse at Starcraft | IronParrot | General Messages | 13 | 08-03-2001 06:43 PM |