Hacker News Reader

Comment by bradley13 | Hacker News Reader

There are two main problems with the EU, both political.

First, the EU Commission has way too much power, and honestly wants to play dictator. Look at ChatControl: Voted down more than once, but the Commission just repackages and resubmits, with some dirty backdoor tricks, until they get it through. Parliament is not allowed to propose legislation, only the Commission.

Second, regulatory hell. The continual avalanche of regulations out of Brussels cannot be overstated. People make fun of the bottle caps, but those are absolutely illustrative of how literally everything is over-regulated. This is one of the main reasons that European industry is struggling.

View on HN

> bottle caps.

Oh, the humanity! And the lack of bottle tops in the streets.

I'd move to the US, but your lack of regulations scares the piss out of me. And your cops, and your electoral system, overall crime stats....

Your first paragraph rings true.

The EU commission is just a way for national governments to launder their authoritarian desires through the EU. The commissioner for each country is choser by national governments. It's them pushing that shit.

The main problem with it, is that when you vote on national elections, typically you are concerned with local issues. Housing, healthcare, transportation, employment, immigration, etc.

Nobody is really thinking "who will this party behave on the EU level?" Then they do shit like this and hide behind "we have to comply with the EU".

> The EU commission is just a way for national governments to launder their authoritarian desires through the EU. The commissioner for each country is choser by national governments. It's them pushing that shit.

You're both right. The problem is it's the commission that sets the agenda for the parliament.

If you inverted it and had the elected parliament set the agenda for the national government appointed commission it would be far more likely to reflect the will of the people, which is precisely why it is the way it is.

Europe still hasn't learned the lessons of the French revolution, and is destined to keep repeating it.

I am as pro-EU as it gets, and I really would prefer if it worked as a true parliament. Instead of commissioners chosen by national governments and a head commissioner, a premier minister chosen by the parliament, and a commission that would only have the power to approve of veto laws that come from the parliament. Hell, the parliament should even have the power to override vetoes.

The way the EU is composed right now, it is designed to be kneecapped by the national governments every time.

If you’re pro-EU then how has this circumstance come about, except by very deliberate design?

Being pro-EU doesn't mean that you are content with it's current state.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com