Sir, – David Whitehead (April 21st) repeats the widespread misconception that the European Commission is “unaccountable”.
In fact the Commission is fully accountable to the European Parliament which has extensive legislative, budgetary and oversight powers.
Maybe Mr Whitehead should look closer to home, as it is the Irish executive branch which dominates a weak national parliament. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I want to agree with the views expressed by David Whitehead (April 21st). Among other points, he says that Europe is now effectively governed by an unelected bureaucracy.
Centralisation of power without countervailing measures to limit this power results in a dysfunctional bureaucracy. In Europe the move to qualified majority decision-making removed a very effective countervailing force that worked especially well for the smaller peripheral countries.
Qualified majority voting favours the larger countries. It results in the Merkozy method of decision-making, where small countries are expected to rubber-stamp the decisions of the majority. The introduction of a single currency has resulted in monetary policy which is dictated by the requirements of the large economies, especially Germany. There is pressure in France and Germany to change the very effective low corporate tax policy in Ireland, which has arguably been the single most effective policy for the development of a peripheral country and was not originated by Brussels.
This centralising trend has a cost. It results in large disaffected populations and less than optimal economic performance resulting in higher unemployment. It tilts the balance in favour of elites who can afford the cost of Brussels lobbying and marginalises others who were able to hold their own at national level. The proposed referendum will give more power to Brussels and favour the larger countries.
All of this is reflected in the falling support for integration, as reflected in polls throughout Europe. The perceptions and opinions of these people has not been adequately reflected in the debates about European integration. Many elites (political, media, academic etc) are uncritically pro-integration in a way that is not good for Europe and is not helpful to peripheral countries such as Ireland.
It is time that the cost of European integration and associated centralisation was given equal treatment to the pro-integration arguments. – Yours, etc,