In other words, I think the Codecision procedure is great in the way it balances the three institutions (Commission, Council and Parliament). The Commission needs to be separated from the Council more than it is, and it would be a step in teh wrong direction to link it too closely with the Parliament.
I just remembered that currently Solana is both the Council Secretary General and the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. It's possible that that's a good thing: for the foreseeable future the Member States won't want to give up their foreign policy to the Commission, the most one can hope for is a true commitment to a collegiate foreign policy. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
Because I am beginning to think that the European Parliamentary systems lack separation of powers between legislative and executive,
I would also give the Council and the Parliament, not just the Commission, legislative initiative. But I wouldn't take it away from the Commission. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
The parliament definitely needs legislative initiative. It's the main deficiency with EU democracy that I can see.
The EU's core problem is that it doesn't really deal with people's day-to-day concerns in a way they can understand. It deals with them at at least one remove most of the time.
So, codecision and making the Commission President not owe their place to either Parliament or Council sould be a good thing.
Also, how the President is selected has nothing to do with how they are removed. One could still allow the EP to impeach them, to confirm the appointments of the commissioners, etc. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
What makes you think that a directly elected President would be more likely to act on an issue like the CIA prison/flight scandal than a directly elected Parliament? *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
The less the people in the various institutions owe their seats to each other (or to the same outside agent) the better. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
You want the EU to take on the job of strengthening local government? "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
Subsidiarity is a great thing. Higher instances of government should concentrate on setting minimum standards and facilitating coordination. Day-to-day concerns should not be the province of the national governments either. I'd strengthen both the EU and the local governments. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
The EU is wretchedly bad at is promoting itself. This is partly because it's not unified ideologically, but also because there's no mechanism which links people's experience of the benefits to their source.
In my (UK based) experience, when money becomes available, it's discussed in very remote terms. Someone in a country far away decides to offer money... and local people are happy to take it. But there doesn't seem to be any feeling of relationship with the source of the money. It might as well be the tooth fairy or Santa Claus.
This is very, very bad, because it enforces an assumption of non-participation. Us vs them is much less coherent than us here vs us there.
So the feeling of local intervention and interest matters a lot. If handled properly, it could do a lot to create political and social coherence.
since that's where the majority of the corruption is, i agree.
local government is also often corrupt and inefficient, but the damage is less catastrophic.
hopefully accountability will improve with growing awareness, stimulated by blogs like this. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
In Spain the biggest source of corruption are land reclassifications and infrastructure building contracts. Most of this is politically under local government, except for the big national infrastructure like high-speed rail. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
idem with italy and the land reclassifications and infrastructure building contracts, not receiving media attention.
the corruption i was referring to is around military-industrial spending and secret service shenanigans, rendition policies etc. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
there was a great article in the Guardian by T Ash about this lack of common politics arena...
A king without a lot of power (less than the parliament) will joing the european pshcyhe at the level of the Eurocup.
A pleasure I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude
I see that what weakens the union politically is the small number of Eurosceptic countries who have not become any more cooperative after these 15 years.
The cost of some countries opting out would need to be factored into the decision to go ahead, but since the EU already doesn't prevent member states from entering bilateral or multilateral arrangements, all I'm saying is that those should be made part of the EU structure.
Also, new applicants for membership don't get to opt out of anything. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
Your problem is that Ireland is prevented by the UK from taking advantage of a certain enhanced cooperation (though you are in the Euro) "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
The EU budget is just 1% of GDP, right? If people saw they pay a few hundred € in taxes to the EU, and several thousand to their national government, they would stop complaining that the EU is too expensive. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
So your suggestion would be met by slobbering cries of 'Taxes bad! Bad! Bad!' from people whose idea of being balanced is an ability to drool on an even keel. (And I don't just meant the ones who write for the FT and the Economist.)
In fact I'd add the influence of Anglo-Saxon-ism to Nanne's list, because ideologically it's the only thing that has the potential to tear apart the EU.
The infection is already running deep. Wwhile I'm sure there's an immune system of sorts in place, I'm not so sure it's strong enough to nurse the patient back to rude health without the need for a more serious intervention.
