EU election results — neither a grave threat to democracy nor a resounding victory for it
For either of those to be true, the EU would have to be a democracy in the first place — which, of course, it isn’t
I’ve written for UnHerd about the European election results, and why they are neither a grave threat to democracy nor a resounding victory for it. And that is because for either of those things to be true, the EU would have to be a democracy in the first place — which, of course, it isn’t.
The rightward shift across the continent — reflected in the significant gains made by the European Parliament’s two right-populist groups, the ECR and the ID — will certainly have an impact of the European legislative process, especially on highly polarising issues such as the European Green Deal and immigration. But this impact should not be overestimated, not only because the liberal-centrist bloc — i.e., the von der Leyen “super grand coalition” comprising the centre-right EPP, centre-left SD&D and liberal ER — has retained a majority, pointing to the likelihood of a second term for the incumbent president of the European Commission; but, on a more fundamental level, because the real power in the EU isn’t exercised by the European Parliament, or even by democratically elected governments, but by institutions that are largely insulated from any form of democratic accountability — chiefly the European Commission, the ECB and the European Court of Justice.
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Thomas Fazi
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Twitter: @battleforeurope
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This is what Jeremy Corbyn (before he flipped) and Tony Benn said years ago. People said ‘Well if you leave - a la Brexit - you will no longer be able to initiate reform from within.’ But as Thomas points out any idea of introducing a fairer more representative system has been jettisoned- and when electorates kick up and don’t vote the way the EU wants - over the treaty of Lisbon for example - they are sent back to vote again. With the drift further and further to align with corporate interests and banks (as Thomas also says here) the only country with any chance of reflecting the views of its populace- is the U.K. Not that I’m very optimistic there either. The same globalist forces run the show…