BERLIN: The European Union can no longer afford to keep national vetoes when deciding on European Union foreign and security policy if it wants to maintain a leading role in global politics, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. Moscow's war in Ukraine makes unity in Europe ever more urgent and increases pre
I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “accountable”. They represent the voters, that is, the citizens of EU. Is the “country” somehow more important layer of organization than the individual?
Accountable means that the public has leverage over the officials and is able to get rid of them when they don’t act in their interest. The EU bureaucracy is very clearly not acting in the interests of the citizens of the EU which is pretty clear when you look at the current state of things in the eurozone. Individuals in the EU do not have any power over EU bureaucracy.
So it’s not enough “accountability” to vote differently in the next elections?
Of course not, but that’s the best that western parliamentary democracies offer. EU removes even this last vestige of accountability.
Okay, well how would your accountable democracy work then?
The way it functions in China, Vietnam, and Cuba where the government consistently works in the interest of the majority. Go read up on how political/economic systems work in these countries.
I agree that the accountability of western democracies is an illusion.
But you’re not answering the question at all regarding China, Cuba and Vietnam. Basically you are just saying : They’re accountable because they are.
Show us what actual political mechanism exist for the people to reclaim from the state when it’s not working as intended there.
I gave a more detailed answer here https://lemmy.ml/post/372982/comment/232381
And of course, we can look at the tangible results of the systems in Cuba, China, and Vietnam where quality of life continues to improve and poverty is being eliminated. I’ll give a few examples from China here.
Chinese government practically eliminated poverty
China also massively invests in infrastructure having used more concrete in 3 years than US in all of 20th century, they built 27,000km of high speed rail in a decade.
90% of families in the country own their home, giving China one of the highest home ownership rates in the world. What’s more is that 80% of these homes are owned outright, without mortgages or any other leans.
Real wage (i.e. the wage adjusted for the prices you pay) has gone up 4x in the past 25 years, more than any other country. This is staggering considering it’s the most populous country on the planet. NYT also points out social mobility is higher in China than in US.
And then there’s the handling of the pandemic where it’s all but eliminated in China with life getting back to normal and the economy growing, while we anxiously look at our fourth wave where our government left people out to dry to protect business interests.
But is this a function of the government being more accountable to the citizenry or is it just a phase where the government’s highest interest is in building up a flourishing middle class? At any point if the government changed direction what recourse do the citizenry have over it?
I’ve been reading some threads you’re in and everyone keeps asking the same question but you have yet to answer it.