Undermining Democracy: The EU Commission's Controversial Push for Surveillance

Re:Undermining Democracy: The EU Commission's Controversial ... by eigenket on Saturday October 14, 2023 @11:29AM (#37881250)

Because the EU doesn't really have much actual power to do anything that impacts normal citizens. Like the EU doesn't start criminal prosecutions or anything against people. If there is some crime you're being prosecuted for it's going to be your country's government that prosecutes you.

No one is really worried about the EU becoming some sort of Orwellian state because it isn't a state, it doesn't operate like that.

Edit: I should say that this shit also isn't going to pass the European Parliament, its just a proposal which is going to get voted down.

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Re:Undermining Democracy: The EU Commission's Controversial ... by clarada on Saturday October 14, 2023 @01:13PM (#37882293)

The European Commission has veto power over the European Parliament, so I'm afraid it can just force it through. Doesn't normally come to that - there's enough corruption and alternative ways to pressurise the MEPs.

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Re:Undermining Democracy: The EU Commission's Controversial ... by eigenket on Saturday October 14, 2023 @02:45PM (#37883092)

As far as I am aware this is pretty far from accurate. Pretty much everything goes through the "Ordinary legislative procedure" where the comission proposes legislation and the parliament and council have to agree it (Codecision).

The council and commission can change stuff together without concent of parliament in very specialised areas (special legislative procedures), I think this only gets used for internal competion law and market regulation stuff.

In even more specialised areas the commission can change stuff on its own, as far as I know this is mostly restricted to agreeing trade deals and fixing specific tarrifs.

I can't comment on the corruption and alternative ways of pressuring MEPs. Those probably exist.

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Re:Undermining Democracy: The EU Commission's Controversial ... by stevenally on Saturday October 14, 2023 @01:33PM (#37882459)

Yep. In conspiracy circles they like to demonise the EU. They don't know what it is or how it operates and can't be bothered to find out.

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Re:Undermining Democracy: The EU Commission's Controversial ... by eigenket on Saturday October 14, 2023 @02:28PM (#37882936)

I don't think its a thing exclusive to conspiraacy circles. Its natural for Americans to mentally model the EU as something like the US, with the EU representing the federal government and the individual countries acting like US states.

The reality is that that model is pretty innacurate, the EU has a lot less power than the US Federal governenment has. The EU still acts more like a club of individual nations than it does one overall government.

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