Germany's Von der Leyen secures powerful EU executive top job

[Isaanbiker]

27 minutes ago, White Christmas13 said:

yes we rather have a fair election like in Thailand

I doubt that he can even get a decent erection, the man from the election. 

[Thairealist]

4 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

No, I didn’t. Quite the other way round; people whose own head of state is unelected like to falsely claim that EU politicians are unelected. I am just mocking their hypocrisy. 

 

Again, what do you want to compare, and how is it relevant? This thread is about the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen. 

 

I still don’t understand how one could possibly be ashamed of the country oh his passport. It’s neither something you can be ashamed nor be proud of. Just a statistical date. Take whatever country you like; it doesn’t change that your head of state is unelected, whereas Ursula von der Leyen was elected. 

 

 I would like to compare how your head of state is elected in comparison to how the head of state of the U.K is appointed. A system that you obviously disapprove of, but refusing to allow us to make comparisons, will only force us to make our own conclusion.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Thairealist

[welovesundaysatspace]

25 minutes ago, Thairealist said:

 

 I would like to compare how your head of state is elected in comparison to how the head of state of the U.K is appointed. A system that you obviously disapprove of, but refusing to allow us to make comparisons, will only force us to make our own conclusion.

I don’t see how it is relevant, as this thread is about Ursula von der Leyen. But if it gives you peace of mind: The head of state of the country on my passport is elected by parliament and the same number of representatives from the federal states through absolute majority. 

[bristolboy]

Nigel Farage complains about narrow margin of victory for new EU chief after she wins 52% of vote

 

Nigel Farage is facing mockery after he claimed the new European Commission president lacked "legitimacy" because she won just 52 per cent of the vote.

Mr Farage said Ursula von der Leyen had "power but no legitimacy" after she scraped in by nine votes in a ballot in the European Parliament on Tuesday.

 

Critics were quick to point out that the incoming head of the EU executive won by the same margin as the Leave campaign during the 2016 EU referendum - when the result was 52 per cent to 48 per cent.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-ursula-von-der-leyen-brexit-party-vote-eu-commission-juncker-a9008501.html

[teatree]

23 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

Indeed - at least we in the UK have 2 high quality, hugely principled candidates to choose from for next PM. Oh wait, we don't get to choose. It is down to 0.1% of the electorate to choose. And neither could be thought of to be even remotely high quality or principled. Oh, and the government doesn't have a majority mandate to govern but took taxpayers' money to bribe some backwards thinking, terrorist supporting creationists to prop them up. Democracy in action, indeed.

UK democracy is far from perfect, I definitely agree there. 

 

However, THE key point (and the chief reason we voted to leave) is that in the UK the public can affect change.  The people have direct representation from the executive (government), which is in turn accountable to the people. The public can force the executive to alter policy, what happens when a PM resigns for example, if the will of the general public is there.  This happens because of the direct relationship in terms of representation/accountability between the population and its government.

 

Compare that with the executive in the EU.  There is no direct representation for any EU citizen to the executive, nor accountability to any citizen from the executive.  The Commission does not have to worry about what the public wants - they can focus all their energy on constructing their European project.

 

The EU is anti-democratic and now Von Der Leyen, according to what she said in her acceptance speech, wants to abolish individual nation vetos on EU foreign policy.  The EU is rapidly becoming a United States of Europe and thank God we voted to leave.

[teatree]

23 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Yes, a majority of 383 voted for her. 

How many voted for the UK’s head of state? Oh, wait...

Von Der Leyen is not the new head of state, that is the President of the European Council Charles Michel.

 

Bit silly comparing QE2 with the EU President anyway.  One of them is in the most powerful executive position of the EU government and the other stays out of politics completely. 

[welovesundaysatspace]

4 minutes ago, teatree said:

 

Bit silly comparing QE2 with the EU President anyway.  One of them is in the most powerful executive position of the EU government and the other stays out of politics completely. 

The UK head of state is the most powerful position of the UK. Not silly at all. 

Edited July 18, 2019 by welovesundaysatspace

[transam]

10 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

I don’t see how it is relevant, as this thread is about Ursula von der Leyen. But if it gives you peace of mind: The head of state of the country on my passport is elected by parliament and the same number of representatives from the federal states through absolute majority. 

Thank gawd you're not British....????

[teatree]

23 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

The UK head of state is the most powerful position of the UK. Not silly at all. 

What?  When was the last time the Queen proposed legislation? 

 

The powers that the Queen has are formalities.  The Queen's job is to improve the image of the UK, which I think she does a lot better than someone like Blair would in an elected system.

Edited July 18, 2019 by teatree

[welovesundaysatspace]

4 hours ago, teatree said:

What?  When was the last time the Queen proposed legislation? 

I don’t know. That wasn’t the question. I said she’s the most powerful person in the UK political system. 

 

4 hours ago, teatree said:

The powers that the Queen has are formalities. 

Before a bill passed can become law, her approval is required. That’s not a formality. 

[transam]

4 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

I don’t know. That wasn’t the question. I said she’s the most powerful person in the UK political system. 

 

Before a bill passed can become law, her approval is required. That’s not a formality. 

Tell me one "Bill" she has not approved....?

[Rimmer]

Off topic baiting post removed

[welovesundaysatspace]

37 minutes ago, transam said:

Tell me one "Bill" she has not approved....?

That wasn’t the question. What I said was that she’s the most powerful person in the UK’s political system. 

[vogie]

10 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

That wasn’t the question. What I said was that she’s the most powerful person in the UK’s political system. 

The queen does not hold any political power.

[nauseus]

50 minutes ago, transam said:

Tell me one "Bill" she has not approved....?

Bill Clinton.

[transam]

19 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

That wasn’t the question. What I said was that she’s the most powerful person in the UK’s political system. 

She is not, what she does is a formality....

[welovesundaysatspace]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

She is not, what she does is a formality....

Nope, she has the power to approve and veto laws. That’s not a formality; you’re wrong. 

[transam]

12 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Nope, she has the power to approve and veto laws. That’s not a formality; you’re wrong. 

Tell me one item she has refused in her 66 years on the throne.....

The last Royal to upset the apple cart was Queen Anne in 1707 who did refuse to sign a Bill....????

Edited July 18, 2019 by transam

[luckyluke]

1 minute ago, transam said:

Tell me one item she has refused in her 66 years on the throne.....

I don't know, but if there is none, I suppose that's simply because She was agree with all of them. 

 

However the possibility of refusing is still there. 

 

Same in my country. 

 

But maybe in such a case the U.K.  will do as Belgium did with their King, when He didn't want to sign the Abortion Law in 1990.

 

[welovesundaysatspace]

14 minutes ago, transam said:

Tell me one item she has refused in her 66 years on the throne.....

The last Royal to upset the apple cart was Queen Anne in 1707 who did refuse to sign a Bill....????

Again, I never said she refused one. I said she has the power to.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Again, I never said she refused one. I said she has the power to.

So you reckon she liked everything put to her over her 66 years...?

 

 

[vogie]

8 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

I don't know, but if there is none, I suppose that's simply because She was agree with all of them. 

 

However the possibility of refusing is still there. 

 

Same in my country. 

 

But maybe in such a case the U.K.  will do as Belgium did with their King, when He didn't want to sign the Abortion Law in 1990.

 

Parliament make the laws, Parliament controls the military, Parliament cut Charles 1st head off.

[luckyluke]

1 minute ago, vogie said:

Parliament make the laws,

So Parliament decide about Brexit? Or...?

 

So far it seems they are not quite convinced it is a good deal for the U.K..

 

But I may be wrong, I have already problems (despite being Belgian, and my country being a member of the E. U.) to understand  the complexity of the E.U., so certainly not how things are working in the U.K..

 

There are U.K. members here who know, or at least think/pretend  they know everything about the E.U. & the U. K.. 

 

One thing however (as this topic is about one facet of the E.U.), it doesn't not have any influence on my daily life, no decision taken inside the E.U. has ever been for me. 

 

So far. 

[welovesundaysatspace]

38 minutes ago, transam said:

So you reckon she liked everything put to her over her 66 years...?

 

 

I reckon nothing. 

[vogie]

3 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

So Parliament decide about Brexit? Or...?

 

So far it seems they are not quite convinced it is a good deal for the U.K..

 

But I may be wrong, I have already problems (despite being Belgian, and my country being a member of the E. U.) to understand  the complexity of the E.U., so certainly not how things are working in the U.K..

 

There are U.K. members here who know, or at least think/pretend  they know everything about the E.U. & the U. K.. 

 

One thing however (as this topic is about one facet of the E.U.), it doesn't not have any influence on my daily life, no decision taken inside the E.U. has ever been for me. 

 

So far. 

So Parliament decide about Brexit? Or...?

Of course Parliament decides about Brexit, they also decided to ask their citizens whether they wished to stay or leave the EU, the rest is history. But don't forget the citizens put the MPs into parliament to act on their wishes, should they faulter on the job they were elected to do, they will probably not get voted in again.

 

But I may be wrong, I have already problems (despite being Belgian, and my country being a member of the E. U.) to understand  the complexity of the E.U., so certainly not how things are working in the U.K..

Excuse my ignorance but does Belgium have a written constitution, if so I'm sure that would give the MPs a direction to follow when making laws or passing bills etc. The UK has a constitution but not written, that may cause problems or even a make it up as we go along attitude, who knows.

 

There are U.K. members here who know, or at least think/pretend  they know everything about the E.U. & the U. K.. 

That could work both ways I would have thought.

 

One thing however (as this topic is about one facet of the E.U.), it doesn't not have any influence on my daily life, no decision taken inside the E.U. has ever been for me. 

And your last paragraph is probably the most important, the member states seem to see the EU in a different light to the majority of the Brits, we are very happy trading with the rest of Europe, but when we see the federalisation of Europe happening before our very eyes, it leaves a bit of a sour taste in our mouths.

 

 

 

[luckyluke]

1 minute ago, vogie said:

the member states seem to see the EU in a different light to the majority of the Brits, we are very happy trading with the rest of Europe,

That's indeed the difference; we ( the common people ) are quite indifferent with who our government is trading with & how, as we haven't really anything to say about it.

 

Most of us hope everything will be ok with the U.K. citizens, if/when Brexit become a reality.

 

However if Brexit should have any negative influence on our daily life, we will blame the U.K. for it, as things were ok for us before.

 

Same as some British already blame the E.U. now, for everything possible.

[vogie]

2 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

That's indeed the difference; we ( the common people ) are quite indifferent with who our government is trading with & how, as we haven't really anything to say about it.

 

Most of us hope everything will be ok with the U.K. citizens, if/when Brexit become a reality.

 

However if Brexit should have any negative influence on our daily life, we will blame the U.K. for it, as things were ok for us before.

 

Same as some British already blame the E.U. now, for everything possible.

However if Brexit should have any negative influence on our daily life, we will blame the U.K. for it, as things were ok for us before.

Your lives would have gone on as normal if we had remained friendly trading partners, however the EU surreptitiously moved the goalposts and decided they wanted full control of our lives, inc everybody accepting the euro, their own anthem, own army, a total federal europe etc etc etc. So if you want to blame anyone, blame the EU, but I suspect to many the EU remain blameless.

 

 

[luckyluke]

I

1 minute ago, vogie said:

Your lives would have gone on as normal...

I respect your opinion/the way you see-interpret things.

 

 

 

[bristolboy]

56 minutes ago, vogie said:

However if Brexit should have any negative influence on our daily life, we will blame the U.K. for it, as things were ok for us before.

Your lives would have gone on as normal if we had remained friendly trading partners, however the EU surreptitiously moved the goalposts and decided they wanted full control of our lives, inc everybody accepting the euro, their own anthem, own army, a total federal europe etc etc etc. So if you want to blame anyone, blame the EU, but I suspect to many the EU remain blameless.

 

 

Didn't know the UK had accepted the Euro.

[RickBradford]

10 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Didn't know the UK had accepted the Euro.

That's not what the poster wrote.

 

The poster wrote that the EU wanted everyone "accepting the euro, their own anthem... " etc etc.