The Campaign Againt The EU Treaty

A handle on Europe Why has it taken so long for the peoples of Europe to break the silence over mechanisms of rule that make such a mockery of democracy? Three reasons suggest themselves. First, the political processes involved derive from a different logic to that of national decision-making, confounding normal reference points. Legislation, for example, is largely the task of the Commission, which has a monopoly on initiating bills; the European parliament can only participate in law-making in those areas where it has been granted powers of co-decision; and a considerable amount of the legislative process falls exclusively upon the Council, that is, upon member governments. It is no easy matter to distinguish the legislative from the executive in such a jumble of genres. Secondly, for those who run the governments and media in most of our countries, the notion of Europe is sacrosanct. Any serious critique of its anti-democratic character is said to give ammunition to the Euro-sceptics. There is some truth in this: a comparison between the institutions of any member state and those of the eu can only reflect badly upon the latter; the eu famously fails to meet its own membership criteria on democratization. In fact—and this is the third reason for the silence—our rulers are eminently comfortable with the eu arrangements, in which the combined national executives constitute the legislature. The dream of every government to lay down the law without interference from elected representatives becomes reality at European level. Full article: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=74&ItemID=8279 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on July 14, 2005]

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