Never the dependency on private money for politics.
And the ideal, long term "congress" would be proportional - EU wide - single circle.
How to get there? First step: Have a treaty that reinforces the parliament (I know, Lisbon does that) and empties the non electable parts of the EU.
What I don't want to see is major policy decisions coming from unelected (or very indirectly elected) parts of the EU. Just that.
And things like tax competition, future train liberalization, come as far as I know (correct me if I am wrong) not from the European parliament but from either the commission or inter governmental agreements.
But, falling back to pragmatic reality, I would bet that the way now will be "two speeds". But lets see...
And, if you do that, how do you get the sovereigntist camp in each member state from voting no? They'de be very strong in a number of countries, actually in a majority I suspect (Ireland, UK, Scandinavia and most of the New Member States) When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
What I don't want to see is major policy decisions coming from unelected (or very indirectly elected) parts of the EU. Just that. Because National Laws are shining examples of rational and just policies and EU Directives are blockheaded. Right
Because National Laws are shining examples of rational and just policies and EU Directives are blockheaded. Right
My argument for democracy is not pragmatic but principled.
I am Portuguese, most of what can be called civilization in my country is normally the imposition of an EU directive (this is an exaggeration, but you get the point).
I am fully aware of the shortcomings of democracy. I normally am against the common/majority sense in my original country. But in the overall I cannot think of a better system (a topic for another discussion...).
The labour movement has been another powerful non-elite engine of progress.
Both seem to have fizzled out of late and a synthesis and revival would be a very good thing.
But the point is that a technocratic elite might be a good thing in a democratic arrangement.
In France, however, as I gather from Jerome's complaints, the technocratic elite has lost its public service ethos and been coopted into predatorial capitalism which is not a good thing. And as the EU Commission looks a lot like the French civil service, one should expect a similar shift there. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
So I am convinced that having two directly elected chambers is a waste. Spain's Senate definitely is useless as configured and I would much rather it be replaced with the Conference of Presidents. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
