European Union non-democratic

national | miscellaneous | news report Saturday October 19, 2002 06:05 by Mehr Demokratie

Statement about Democracy in the EU by Bavarian grassroots group

"If the European Union wanted to join itself, the application would be turned down because of a severe lack of democracy."
Roman Huber, chairman of the Bavarian section of "Mehr Demokratie e. V." ("More Democracy", a German association for grassroots democracy on all levels, part of NDDIE, the Network for Direct Democracy In Europe)

Huber said this especially because of the way how laws are made in the European Union, as there is no separation of powers. In a democracy, there has to be a legislative power (parliament) that makes the laws, and an executive power (government) that executes them. EU is different. Its laws are made in secret sessions by the European Council, where the governments meet. The European Parliament very often has no say at all, especially they lack the right to propose a law. Not so the 15'000 lobbyists in Brussels, especially the ERT (European Round Table of Industrialists, the most powerful lobby group). It is their ideas which are brought into the secret meetings of the European Council and become European strategy and European law without any public discussion!
This also threatens democratic structures in the member states. As in the case of Germany, more than 50% of all new laws are EU laws. So, if chancellor Schroeder wants a new law, instead of asking the Bundestag (German Parliament) and, if the Laender are affected, also the Bundesrat (Federal Representation of the Laender), he goes to Brussels, makes the law (turning himself into some kind of legislative power), comes back and executes it (again as executive power). Because the European lawmaking happens in secret sessions, he can even deny his own responsibility for this law, which happens really often. Something that cannot be forced through on national level is very often implemented via Brussels – and then they tell the public, sorry, we don't like this new law either but we have to do so because the EU wants it that way!