EU election

[genocidal]

I guess the point of my posts kind of went over your head Leaf.

Besides making me laugh you also proved that Leaf is a whining pussy and, by extension, all of Europe is. QED motherfucker.

[Cops]

We will be voting on the representatives for the EU parliament.

And the English office is still better, I like the US one, it's good, but English is still better, besides they are still using Ricky Gervais to help make the US one.

I wouldn't bash British tv, they make some good stuff, really good quality stuff. If you wanna bash any tv, bash Dutch tv, we make terrible shows and we have terrible actors besides the 3 or 4 that made it to Hollywood (we used to be decent and we have some good older movies, but whatever they turn out today is bad).

I'm with Squeezer, Dr. Who sucks but at least people watch it. Britain does have some awesome shows, I'm actually impressed by what they have to offer. The Tudors is awesome collaboration between the CBC and the BBC (among other networks). BBC also had a hand in ROME, among other great shows. I know American shows are great and all that but I don't discount British entertainment.

[Xog]

i didn't even know elections existed in europe. o.O...

Answer: I haven't heard of this event at all in the USA.

[kthx]

I read the newspapers and find more articles about fire fighters pulling cats out of trees than I do about the EU elections, sorta goes to show you that they aren't important.

[Jeenyuss]

or that there are a lot of cats being thrown into trees in texas

[Nycle]

To get this thread back on track, I'm an American that's interested in these elections but doesn't hear about them in the media (also has little time lately to seek out news). Can someone please give me a little info on what exactly members of the EU will vote on? I don't know what's at stake but I'm interested.

The European Parliament is somewhat similar in function to the US House of Representatives, in that it acts as one of the two chambers in a bicameral system (the other ones being the Senate in the US and the Council of the EU in Europe) and has representatives from all states. Together with the Council, it has the power to legislate in 75% of the area's of policy that fall under the competence of the EU. For the remaining 25%, the Council doesn't necessarily need the Parliament's assent to enact legislation, although this number tends to be further reduced with every new reform treaty that is passed. Currently, the Treaty of Lisbon is in the process of being passed, and it will cause this number to lower to almost 0%.

I'm not surprised at all that no one has heard of the elections. Not even Europeans care, even though power tends to shift from the national to supranational level. The principle of the nation state still reigns supreme in Europe, and the EU is so unique in its system of governance that it isn't remotely similar to this principle. This has caused people to be "out of touch" with this quasi-federal layer of government, causing them not to care and not to vote. Studying public administation, I find this awkward because it basically undermines the democratic legitimacy of the EU, which is nowadays the source of more than half of all new legislation in the member states...

[kthx]

or that there are a lot of cats being thrown into trees in texas

Touche.

[Doc Flabby]

The EU elections are weird as the EU uses a quasi-Two house system.

1. There is the executive (the European commision) which consists of totally unelected faceless buerocrats (i doubt anyone even knows who the "EU president" is, he is appointed and not elected) and proposes all new legislation.

2. The European Parliment (elected) has only the power to amend/veto legistaltion. However the Parliament has never voted against a President or his Commission (the executive). Therefore it has never exercised these powers, essentially making it a rubber stamping machine for the executive.

Now i'm sure anyone (especially thoses familiar with the US system) can see the obvious problems with this system and why voting is pretty much pointless

[Nycle]

The EU elections are weird as the EU uses a quasi-Two house system.

I don't think your comparison between the commission and the parliament applies to a two-house system. They are two completely different institutions with different tasks. I'd be more akin to compare the parliament with the Consilium, see my previous post about why.

The EU elections are weird as the EU uses a quasi-Two house system.

1. There is the executive (the European commision) which consists of totally unelected faceless buerocrats (i doubt anyone even knows who the "EU president" is, he is appointed and not elected) and proposes all new legislation.

So do you get to elect your minister for every department in Britain as well? How about the Prime Minister? I'd like to mention that the appointment of every commission president and commissioner must be approved by the parliament before they can do anything at all.

2. The European Parliment (elected) has only the power to amend/veto legistaltion. However the Parliament has never voted against a President or his Commission (the executive). Therefore it has never exercised these powers, essentially making it a rubber stamping machine for the executive.

In 1999, the parliament forced the entire commission to resign after allegations of fraud through a vote of no confidence. In 2004, it rejected the initially proposed commission and forced it to change into the current one. Your stated "fact" is simply not true. About the rubber stamping machine, just today the parliament prevented a law from taking effect which would have paved the way for internet users to be disconnected after repeatedly downloading illegal/copyrighted contents. It does this with proposals all the time.

The parliament may not have a formal right of legislative initiative, but it can ask the commission to propose legislation. Since the commission tends to follow whatever the parliament wants, and the parliament is backed by its ability to censure, it can be concluded that it has a right of legislative initiative in practice. Suggesting that the parliament is just a teethless monster is far from true, and I think this only confirms how little is known about something that has such a big influence on our daily lives. It's a shame really.

[Jeenyuss]

nyckle why are the eu electrons so much different than us electrons and which one looks better in a swimsuit i think is the more pressing matter

[DankNuggets]

nyckle why are the eu electrons so much different than us electrons and which one looks better in a swimsuit i think is the more pressing matter

still working my mind around why you guys need a president AND and prime minister.

what exactly does the president do in parlimentary countries?

[Jeenyuss]

he's kind of like the peanut guy of canadian politics.

[PaulOakenfold]

wanna meet that president

[Jeenyuss]

he doesn't wear deodorant.

[Money]

must be a french canadian f