Quote:
Originally Posted by haroldeye
Hoss mate. The EU Parliament has all the power of a wet fart. It is not mean't to have power but to be there to rubber stamp the Commission. The centre of power in the EU is the Commission and the ECJ.
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The EU Parliament, like most legislative bodies, has the power to influence the executive by threatening to block the budget. As I mentioned before, the EU Parliament is gaining influence at the expense of the EU Council.
The irony of the whole affair is that an increase of direct democracy on EU level means a decrease of power of national parliaments and their governments. Strengthening the EU Parliament means increasing European integration. So, asking for more consideration of national idiosyncrasies and more representation on a supranational level at the same time is quite a bit contradictory.