In 1933 the Germans, seized by rabid nationalism, voted Adolf Hitler into power. The whole group was mesmerised by one fact.
Nil Einne ( talk) 14:17, 24 June 2016 (UTC) Here is an op-ed by suspense novelist Frederick Forsyth that argues for Brexit on the basis that the EU is anti-democratic, saying of the EU architects: That said, as our article explains, the idea that most European laws are something the bureaucrats of the European Commission came up with by themselves is a myth. While most bills in the UK parliament have bureaucrat involvement nominally there's nothing stopping the British parliament from making bills completely on their own AFAIK which can't happen with the European Parliament. Jack of Oz 22:05, 25 June 2016 (UTC) Note that one significant difference between the UK parliament (or actually many) and the European Parliament is the later lacks legislative initiative. A common misassumption, even over where you are. Nil Einne ( talk) 14:52, 24 June 2016 (UTC) Note, Alansplodge, that the expression " The mother of parliaments" is a reference to England, not to the UK Parliament. Alansplodge ( talk) 20:29, 23 June 2016 (UTC) Well the wikipedia article you linked to also implies it's a Euromyth since the shape ones only apply to high class bananas. How do I change my ballot card from this morning? :-) Alansplodge ( talk) 20:21, 23 June 2016 (UTC) Oh, and here's a reference - EU Regulations: "Dictatorship of the Bureaucrats"?. Of course, Wikipedia also has an article saying that this is a Euromyth, so who knows. 2257/94 which says that bananas cannot be sold in the EU if they have "abnormal curvature". A regularly cited example is Commission Regulation (EC) No. However, I think the main target of British angst is the European Commission, which can use existing legislation to enforce (some would say arbitrary) regulations on Member States. Wymspen ( talk) 08:36, 23 June 2016 (UTC) The European Parliament is able to force the British Parliament to pass legislation, so for many British people, the idea of the Mother of Parliaments being told what to do by a lot of foreigners is beyond the pale (sadly, a majority of MEPs are just not British). The Commission, which everyone complains about, is the civil service - they draft the legislation (usually at the request of the council of ministers), then oversee its application. The council consists of the representatives of the governments of the 28 member states - and the rules require a qualified majority (which is more than 50%, and is tied both to the number of countries but also to their relative populations - so the bigger countries cannot be outvoted by the smaller ones). The parliament is democratically elected. In the EU laws require the approval of both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
The 'less democratic' argument is a lie espoused by Bexiters, largely when they don't want to say the real reason they're voting out (they're racist). Both parliaments operate largely the same.