UKIP will walk it?

[petergriffin]

The work of MEPs is negative or rubber stamping.

If it's only rubber stamping, who provides the input? Who owns the EU?

[DodgyAgent]

If it's only rubber stamping, who provides the input? Who owns the EU?

Pray tell

[DodgyAgent]

Which is it?

Whichever side of the stamp they use

[darmstadt]

The most important aspect of leadership in government is to shape and implement policy. Being an MEP is hardly a problem solving role is it? If you lobby your local MP then provided there is sufficient support they will deliver it to the government department who will/will not come up with a solution.

The work of MEPs is negative or rubber stamping. It requires a lower calibre of person to do this type of work. Even Health and Safety managers have to be creative and lead. It may be they pass or refuse policies handed down to them but democratic policy making should be about more than this.

If you then dissolve the representation down to one vote out of 300 odd million it is no wonder people do not feel that they have any say in the running of Europe

Eh? In most national parliaments, when a government publishes a bill, it is quite often clear what will come out of the procedure and it is headline news if the parliament amends it against the will of the government (or the unelected civil servant who wrote it.) Many people claim that certain national parliaments are little more than rubber-stamps for their government's legislation. In the European Parliament this is definitely not so. A draft Directive, not unlike a bill, really is a draft. MEPs have to go through it paragraph by paragraph, amending it and rewriting it. So do the ministers in the Council and ultimately the positions of the two must be reconciled in what (*) amounts to a bi-cameral legislature at EU level. But the net effect is that every year, thousands of amendments to draft legislation put forward by ordinary back-bench MEPs end up on the statute books and apply across the EU.


For simple folk:

Just as you elect councillors to deal with local issues and MPs to deal with national issues, so you elect Members of the European Parliament to deal with European issues.

Your MEP is your voice in Brussels. You don't need to go through the Foreign Office diplomats to be represented in the European Union: you have your own representative for your own area.

MEPs represent regional constituencies. Yorkshire and the Humber, for instance, elects seven MEPs (six from June 2004). Elections are by proportional representation, with each party putting up a team of candidates.

An MEP's main task is to vote on European legislation, just as MPs in the House of Commons vote on national legislation. European legislation is binding across the whole of the European Union.

MEPs sit in the European Parliament. The Parliament's main task is to debate and vote on European legislation, just as the House of Commons votes on national legislation.

(* see the Amsterdam treaty)

[Mich the Tester]

Eh? In most national parliaments, when a government publishes a bill, it is quite often clear what will come out of the procedure and it is headline news if the parliament amends it against the will of the government (or the unelected civil servant who wrote it.) Many people claim that certain national parliaments are little more than rubber-stamps for their government's legislation. In the European Parliament this is definitely not so. A draft Directive, not unlike a bill, really is a draft. MEPs have to go through it paragraph by paragraph, amending it and rewriting it. So do the ministers in the Council and ultimately the positions of the two must be reconciled in what (*) amounts to a bi-cameral legislature at EU level. But the net effect is that every year, thousands of amendments to draft legislation put forward by ordinary back-bench MEPs end up on the statute books and apply across the EU.


For simple folk:



(* see the Amsterdam treaty)

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...ml#post1931761

[d000hg]

No , but if UKIP becomes a majority in Parlement then the whole world would stop trading. There is no way that a predominant socialist europe , Latin America and Africa would continue business as usual with a right wing, racist government.

I think that's a bit naive. You have to do a bit more to damage trade than be right wing and hold controversial views. Really, unless you're killing your own citizens you're not going to get much reaction and even then you get told "that's not really on old bean" to begin with!

[darmstadt]

Keep going ...

Why? Can't you do it for yourself?

[DodgyAgent]

"60mph on M6 - part of the Highways Agency Controlled Motorways scheme (Smart Motorways) which is in part due to moves to meet European Union rules on fighting dangerous levels of air pollution. Don't see that in other countries, its just how the UK government decide to implement these laws which were passed by MEPs who were democratically elected

Works councils - have been around since the 20's in other countries. The EWC Directive (94/45/EC) applies to all companies with 1,000 or more workers, and at least 150 employees in each of two or more EU Member States. So if you don't have at least 150 employees in other countries, then it doesn't affect you (in Britain they're called Joint Consultative Committee) and is still only formed when more than 100 employees of the company want one"

Explain what is so good about these policies. You seem to be taken in by the "high minded" weasel words of ambition rather than the practicalities

[darmstadt]

"60mph on M6 - part of the Highways Agency Controlled Motorways scheme (Smart Motorways) which is in part due to moves to meet European Union rules on fighting dangerous levels of air pollution. Don't see that in other countries, its just how the UK government decide to implement these laws which were passed by MEPs who were democratically elected

Works councils - have been around since the 20's in other countries. The EWC Directive (94/45/EC) applies to all companies with 1,000 or more workers, and at least 150 employees in each of two or more EU Member States. So if you don't have at least 150 employees in other countries, then it doesn't affect you (in Britain they're called Joint Consultative Committee) and is still only formed when more than 100 employees of the company want one"

Explain what is so good about these policies. You seem to be taken in by the "high minded" weasel words of ambition rather than the practicalities

Where do I say they were good? Although why isn't it practical to have 60mph speed limits on the M6 and other roads to cut air pollution although it maybe more practical to provide a much better public transport infrastructure to remove the high amount of cars on the road (77 vehicles per km of road, France is only 36 and Germany is 75) Remember, this is the UK government's way of reducing emissions. Maybe there are better ways or do you think that emissions are okay?

[DodgyAgent]

Where do I say they were good? Although why isn't it practical to have 60mph speed limits on the M6 and other roads to cut air pollution although it maybe more practical to provide a much better public transport infrastructure to remove the high amount of cars on the road (77 vehicles per km of road, France is only 36 and Germany is 75) Remember, this is the UK government's way of reducing emissions. Maybe there are better ways or do you think that emissions are okay?

Neither I or anyone I know suffers ill effects of air pollution. Furthermore slowing down cars means they spend more time on the roads emitting pollution. Why not go the whole hog and reduce limits to 1 mph? why not 59.9 mph if that is too slow?. Who makes these figures up? And why are there speed limits on roads at 3.00 am in the morning when there is no traffic.

Like sheep you fawn over anything that seems to be solving a problem that actually does not even exist in the first place. If there is no problem the EU will make one up. Just like making cornish people into an ethnic group all these things do is give these that administer the policies power and money.