I have to say I tire of Britain lecturing the EU for its democratic deficit. Whitehall has more power than "Brussels Bureaucrats" ever had. The EP has so little power because Britain led the charge to cede as few powers as possible to it. The EC is no more or less democratic than any EU government - all the Commissioners are appointed by the respective elected Prime Ministers of their countries, as are cabinet ministers in those countries.  Name me the EU  country that has an elected judiciary.

When most Britons complain about not being able to change the EU Government, their complaint is that THEY and THEY alone can't change it.  Which is as it should be. The EU Government, such as it is, is the consequence of numerous national elections, which, unfortunately for us, have been trending conservative for years, and are becoming even more hard line nationalist and conservative.  We may not like the trend, but it has been, in part, driven by the UK and is a consequence of the democracy we have in Member States.

Meanwhile English nationalists give the Permanent Government in Whitehall a free pass.  Rage at Brussels is no more than xenophobic chauvinism, narcissistic demagoguery, and imperialistic arrogance. It provides an outlet for class tensions within the UK bypassing the UK elite. The rest of the EU ends up having to deal with that shit. Economically it makes no sense at all, but perhaps politically, it has become necessary to save the EU.  The UK as we know it, meanwhile, will disintegrate.

Index of Frank's Diaries