Mr Joyce’s use of cliché in claiming that we are ruled by ‘unelected foreign bureaucrats’ (readers’ times, April 28) is not only a substitute for serious thought, but just plain wrong, especially since 2009. While it is the Commission, whose members are appointed by the elected governments of member countries, which puts forward draft legislation, it is the European Parliament, elected by us amongst others, which accepts, amends or rejects it. These days the Commission proposes, but Parliament disposes. (Even back in 1999 the elected European Parliament was able to force the resignation of the entire Commission led by Jacques Santer.)
In drafting laws the Commissioners, like the cabinets of the Welsh Assembly and the UK Parliament, are helped by civil servants (to call them ‘bureaucrats’ is just a sly way of making us resent them without offering any evidence). It is in the nature of parliamentary democracy that AMs, MPs and MEPs will sometimes pass legislation that we disagree with, but democracy requires us to accept the will of the majority, whether, for example, it comes from the voters in South Wales, or the South-East of England, or other parts of Europe (choose one or more according to your political likes and dislikes). The days of the ‘democratic deficit’ are gone.
Richard Willmott
Hereford
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