No, again, Americans using words they don’t know the meaning of...
A government is what Americans call « an administration » that is, secretaries and their cabinets. The latter being called MINISTERS and cabinets everywhere else in the world, but hey, America (and the UK...)
Not to forget that the head of state isn’t the head of government in most EU countries (it’s monarchs, presidents of the Republic, etc.)
A government consists of the head of state or the head of government (Prime minister / Chancellor) and ministers (secretaries in the UK and US).
A government is NOT a conflation of judiciary, legislative and executive powers. That is a definition that is purely and uniquely American.
But that purely semantic distinction does not change the nature of checks and balances between powers (or, as Americans might have it « branches of government »).
The ignorant thing to assume is that because it’s called a government in the US, the same prerogatives apply to what European countries call their “governments”. It does not.
There is no such thing as a EU government. The EU is a union of SOVEREIGN STATES OR COUNTRIES.
Again, states are not countries per se in America. But in Europe, the European states are full-fledged countries, and nation-states.
Do not presume to apply American vocabulary to European politics, is what I mean. This forcing of American acceptations of words on foreign contexts is what dooms Americans to ignorance and hubris where European politics are concerned.
The European Commission (who went after Apple/ Ireland) is an administration (not an American “administration”), that is an INSTITUTION where civil servants work together with the current 3 countries/states presiding over the Commission to harmonise national policies and define the common roadmap for the Union. It gives advice as to the policies that would be most beneficial to single Member States but never forces local policies on sovereign states. It sees that European law is respected and implemented at the state level, but the implementation proper is left to Member States. It’s like Member States are given assignments and they are free to be creative and even add to the law. In turn, laws have to be ratified and inserted in local member state/country legislation and everything is debated locally. Heads of local governments/ heads of State (Prime ministers, Chancellors, presidents... what have you) are part of the Commission and may butt in to defend their own country’s vision. Like president Macron and Chancellor Merkel who are so vocal on the EU scene. Others do give their opinions too, eh ?
The EU is a working democracy without a government. Member States work together for the common good on a common agenda. Rogue states are held in check, such as Greece and its deficit that almost sank the whole Eurozone €, or Poland and its neonais fusing the executive and the judicial powers. Or Ireland acting like a criminal state favoring tax evasion, being Apple’s bitch.
We have a Court of law, just like there is a Supreme Court in America, and we have MEPs (Members of European Parliament) who are directly elected like senators in the US. Think of it like a sort of “EU Congress”.
There is no EU central government superceding the local Member State Governments, the EU isn’t a federal state.
The EU is an alliance of sovereign nation-states or countries woking together on key competences that the individual Member States have devolved to the EU. For example, the agricultural policy, or fisheries are the EU’s prerogative to govern. Because the local states said so.
The EU Commission and EU Council ARE the executive branch. Think of all the local governments as one supermassive government. A rotation system allocates the presidency to one state for a period of time. And now we also have a president of the EU Commission. He’s the one who’s always there in international summits like the G20. He’a as close to a President of the EU as anything comes.
The legislative power is shared between the Commission and the Parliament. The EU is governed by its own Member States’ governments that make up the Commission and the EU Council (which is NOT the “Council of Europe”!!!!).
Only the Parliament may adopt white papers into law, however. So the people of Europe have the last word.
The executive power is the prerogative of Member States who ratify EU law to integrate it into Member State legislation. Furthermore, the Commission monitors that EU law is respected throughout the EU. It can refer Member States to the judiciary branch of the EU if they break the law.
And the European court of Justice (as well as the European Court of Human Rights, etc...) is the judiciary branch of government (but there is no EU government, I say branches of government just so Americans can follow...). It’s the judiciary POWER within the EU.
The EU is a working democracy. It’s been working for a long time now, both its executive as well as its legislative branches are directly elected by the people, but the rotation system between the 27 Member States means there’s little room for radical change in policy. Mostly, Member States do whatever they want, which weakens the EU as a superpower.
But with eveey challenge the EU has faced, it has come through with strenghtened institutions and democracy.
The Apple case is one of those challenges. We are not even a century old, and just like the US’s Constitution’s amendments weren’t written in a day, the EU is still finding its footing as an expanding democracy.
Do not believe morons and Russian trolls spewing nonsense about the EU, read wikipedia and try to keep in mind that
- governement
- state
- aministration
- cabinet
- secretary
- etc.
don’t mean the same in American English in a USA context as they do in the rest of the world.
Although they share a lot of things in common, both the US’s and the EU’s democracies are very different.
But it doesn’t mean the EU isn’t working as a democracy. In fact, it works really well, considering we don’t all speak the same language and every law has to be tailored to accomodate each Member State’s national prerogatives and incorporated within the limits existing constitutions / legislation.
Mind you, some countries like the UK don’t even HAVE a constitution to speak of.
Vive l’Europe
Et vive la France
And screw those Irish ☘️ seriously bitches better have our munnies.
