Europe’s version of federalism
…between 1999 and 2004, 84% of the legal acts in Germany stemmed from unelected EU institutions in Brussels, with only 16% coming from the German Parliament in Berlin.
Like Germany, Belgium is a EU member. In our parliament, we, too, are called upon almost every week to vote the incorporation into Belgian legislation of so-called “directives” emanating from the EU Commission…
…
“It is for this simple reason,” says Mr. Laughland, “that all establishment politicians, whether of Left or Right, are in favor of the EU. It increases their power and their room for maneuver. How much easier it is to pass laws in a quiet and secret meeting with your twenty-seven colleagues, than it is to do so in front of a fractious parliament where there is usually an in-built opposition.”
Read the whole story here.
I wonder what the US and Europe will be like in another 20 years with the continuing centralization of power. We know letting businesses have a monopoly is dangerous, but millions of people on two continents seem to be OK with a monopoly on political power.