Roger Köppel on Europe's "faulty design"

Roger Köppel uses an article by former German President Roman Herzog as a starting point to discuss Europe's "institutional weaknesses." Herzog had lamented that German laws were increasingly pre-determined in Brussels, which was undercutting parliamentary democracy. Köppel agrees wholeheartedly with Herzog: "The process of European jurisprudence is influenced for the most part by the Council of Ministers. This body is occupied by executive politicians of EU countries. But once they come to Brussels, they mutate into legislative politicians. In other words, the EU, which celebrates itself as a guarantor of democracy and due process, essentially negates the principle of separation of powers by handing over essential legislative functions to representatives of the executive.... In plain words, EU is a poorly constructed institution, urgently in need of an overhaul. Switzerland did well to keep its distance, bilaterally."

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