This thing called “European Union”
4. September 2009
(Disclaimer: This is a political statement, so only read on if you can cope with it)
It all came into my mind again when seeing all the reports about the phase out of light bulbs starting from 1st of september in European countries. Apparently this isn’t a major issue for most people except the Germans who always fear to loose something.
Anyway, in all this reports it was talked about that this moster called “EU” has decided that no more light bulbs may be purchased. It was never talked about that the EU doesn’t decide anything but contrary as in every democracy, it is the people who decide.
In this case the proposal was made from the european commission which consists of 27 commissioners from the European countries approved by the European Parliament. A few months ago all Europeans had the right to elect their MPs though actually not so many did (less than 50%). If they had wanted to keep the light bulbs then they could have voted for it, but they didn’t.
I am writing this to conscientize people that sentences like “Brussels has decided…”, “the EU demands…”, etc. simply are not the truth. YOU ARE THE EU, YOU DECIDE!. And if you are dissatisfied with the decision it is up to you to change the European government.
Do you really want a light bulb to light your room that needs more energy than your laptop?
Update: Some people state correctly that this is an indirect democracy so you can’t influence the decisions directly – that’s true. But it is the way most countries are governed because otherwise things become difficult to organize. And yes, you don’t vote the commissioner directly, but indirectly through your local parliament.
Update2: About this Mercury thing – there is excellent information available on this – please use google.
4. September 2009 at 15:22
Excellent point! People love to complain after the fact because it’s easier than getting involved.
The British also love to complain about being “ruled from Brussels”, and sometimes I think they see it as the entirety of Continental Europe ganging up on their Traditional British Values(tm) like beer in pints and confusing monetary systems. 🙂
4. September 2009 at 15:37
I’m Spaniard, and so I belong to the UE, and I agree that people should be the ones voting, each diplomatic showing the results.
I don’t understand why we are forced to change because they demand so, specially without counting our opinions and thoughts. Also, I’ve read that they have some cons that could affect our health, and we were not informed.
4. September 2009 at 15:40
Remind me when we last elected our European Commissioners?
I think I may have missed that bit.
4. September 2009 at 15:40
You did not mention in your rant that we Europeans can vote for the parliament but that one cannot make the laws. The commission was selected by the member state governments. The EU is not democratic.
4. September 2009 at 15:55
A very good point. I find german conservativeness charming, just like I find the furious technohype in sweden uncharming. (Other times, these two countries are just the same.)
However: this is a compromise for the environment. On one hand we have saving resources, producing less pollution by producing unclean energy. On the other hand we have a systematic use of Mercury which is a threat to nature and human’s living environment and health.
I think it’s very valid to be skeptical to increased systematic use, distribution and disposal of mercury.
4. September 2009 at 16:07
You’re totally right.
It’s a simple matter of being responsible for one’s own action instead of complaining without doing anything to change the state of things.
4. September 2009 at 16:17
You said:
“YOU ARE THE EU, YOU DECIDE!. And if you are dissatisfied with the decision it is up to you to change the European government.”
The problem is not the people who don’t decide, they deserve the consequences.
But when you decide and you are the minority, this is the big problem!
The majority always win and the majority is always stupid!!!!
4. September 2009 at 16:25
Seems you really don’t understand how this thing ACTUALLY works.
you elect a representative, not an action of the representative, if the representative fails to follow your wish then you’ve got no recourse of action.
If we were allowed to have REFERENDUMS which is what you’re actually getting confused with, then we’d be able to vote on ISSUES not representatives. Democracy is dictated by the use of REFERENDUMS and ELECTIONS not one or the other. The people no longer have a say as the representatives make decisions in closed rooms.
Before making a daft “political statement” actually consider what a vote means in both an ELECTION and a REFERENDUM.
Nobody had any choice about this law in any of the countries, there were no referendums of the people at all, you cannot equate the election of a representative with a single issue, especially when that issue was not an election issue.