//In reality the Commission takes it priorities from elected member state governments (the Council) and performs a role more akin to the British civil service.//
Really? Here’s an explanation of what the Commission does (from its own website, not the Daily Mail):
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Principal roles in strategy and policy
The European Commission plays an active role in developing the EU's overall strategy and in designing and implementing EU policies. It evaluates and reports on its policies on a regular basis.
Setting strategic priorities
Along with the other main EU institutions, the European Commission develops the overall strategy and political direction of the EU.
Every five years, at the beginning of a new Commission term, the president of the Commission also determines the political priorities for its upcoming term of office.
The Commission turns these priorities into concrete actions on a yearly basis through an annual work programme, which sets out a plan of action for the next twelve months.
Developing and implementing policies
The European Commission develops and implements EU policies by
- proposing laws to the European Parliament and Council of the European Union
- helping EU countries implement EU legislation
- managing the EU's budget and allocating funding
- ensuring that EU law is complied with together with the Court of Justice
- representing the EU outside Europe together with the EU's diplomatic service, the European External Action Service
EU policies are designed to bring benefits to citizens, businesses and other stakeholders in the EU. Commission initiatives for new policies have to be agreed on internally according to a set procedure.
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Strangely I don’t see too much in that precis of any democratic oversight or of any input from “elected state governments.”
Here’s another passage explaining how “legislative Proposals” pass through the EU sausage machine (again from one of the EU’s many websites, not the Daily Mail):
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/decision-making/ordinary-legislative-procedure/#:~:text=The%20Parliament%20adopts%20a%20legislative,Parliament%20and%20of%20the%20Council.
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Right of initiative
The Commission is the only EU institution empowered to initiate EU legal acts. It submits proposals for EU legal acts on its own initiative, at the request of other EU institutions or following a citizens' initiative.
The procedure is launched when the European Commission submits a legislative proposal to the Council and the European Parliament. At the same time it sends the proposal to national parliaments and, in some cases, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee for their examination.
Legislative proposals are adopted by the college of the members of the Commission either by written procedure (i.e. the text is not discussed) or by oral procedure (with a discussion). If a vote is requested, the Commission decides by simple majority.
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Once again, I don’t see too much democratic oversight in that process and in particular I see for absolutely sure that the EU Parliament – upon which you hold so much reliability - is not able to initiate legislation.
Do you not read about these things or do you merely trot out what you believe to be true?