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EU Patent Examiners Warn Parliament Will Have "No Power"
zoobab writes "The Staff Union of the European Patent Organisation sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament, warning that after the EU accedes to the European Patent Convention, there is a risk that the European Parliament would be 'circumvented' as a legislator. The European Patent Organisation is in no way a model of democracy: national patent offices are in power, there is no parliament involved in the decision-making process, and diplomatic conferences are held behind closed doors. There are plans to create a central patent court in Europe, which would operate in a democratic vacuum, not counterbalanced by any legislative assembly, in particular not the European Parliament. Such a central patent court could also validate software patents via caselaw (as the German Supreme Court recently did with the Microsoft FAT patent). And Microsoft, IBM, and SAP are lobbying in Brussels not to reopen consideration of the software patent directive."
As far as I can make out the current idea of the EU is to provide a bunch of cash for all the MEPs, their flunkeys, other assorted civil "servants" and just about anyone else even vaguely connected with the whole rotten edifice.
The EU commission (iirc) hasn't even had it books audited and correctly signed off for about 12 years.
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I can see some of the benefits that the EU has brought to citizens, such as the cap on mobile phone roaming charges
I can't think of anything more irrelevant and inappropriate for a government to get involved in. Woohoo, a byzantine superstate but at least I can make cheaper unnecessary calls in Poland!
The complexity of the EU's structures has the effect that only a limited number of people even understand how decisions are taken.
That's very patronising, and typical of the attitude the EU wants to promulgate: "We're doing stuff in your interest; too complex for you to understand. Let us get on with it... or do you want us to go back to WW2? Are you racist?" A sheet of A4 could effectively summarise the EU's decision-making process in principle. (A different sheet could effectively summarise the EU's decision-making process in practice - but the same applies for any organisation.)
Here in Europe, people generally don't know their MEPs
Know in what sense? Their names? What they stand for? I don't *care* about my MEP, because I don't care for that layer of government. The EU (as in, what's new to the EU, not previous peace agreements and free trade agreements) has done little to nothing for Britain, and its main effects on the country have been to introduce harmonised law to protect the interests of foreigners (e.g. farmers) and multinationals (e.g. Microsoft) and to increase taxation to prevent competition between EU states (e.g. 15% VAT minimum). Its idea of democracy, as with the EU Constitution and restrictive patent law - possibly the most wishy-washy nonsense of a Constitution ever written - is to repeatedly bash an idea via different legislative methods until it is in some way accepted.
Most of the problems that people criticize when talking about the EU's "democratic deficit" could be solved by the Fourth Estate (the media)
Wait, what? You're blaming the media for the undemocratic nature of the EU? When has it been the responsibility of the private presses to promote some political bureaucracy in the way you like? Quiet disdain is the approach of the British press, and quiet disdain is what the EU deserves. If you don't like that, start up your own web site and try to make people care.
with now pretty much all decisions requiring
"Except where we've built in exceptions" is the lasting mantra of EU democracy.
The original idea of a united Europe was a peace project. It was not about liberalizing markets, although even that is not necessarily against the interests of citizens.
Why are you against liberalizing market?