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ywuoiaz t1_j1v7u04 wrote

Reply to comment by r3dl3g in ELI5 the EU and how it works by Is_Rosen

I think you're a little bit too hung up on your US comparisons. Just because the EU has a superficially similar structure to two forms of government that were briefly used in the US hundreds of years ago, doesn't mean it's the same in every respect or that it will have the same fate. Tbh this is something I see from Americans a lot: whenever you see a political situation going on in another country, you seem to have an instinct to imagine something similar happening in the US and assume everything will play out the same as it would within the US system.

> By comparison, in the US our government actually has two speeds; glacially slow, and lightning fast. Generally, Congress does nothing, but in genuine emergency situations consensus emerges pretty quickly and Congress can pass legislation in the blink of an eye. The EU has no such ability, because it's own bureaucracy and laws stand in the way of the EU central government by design.

The EU can make arbitrary changes very quickly if all member states are in agreement, simply by agreeing new treaties. In contrast, the US is stuck with its Constitution, and it seems that the only realistic way to change it is by gradually appointing Supreme Court justices who you think will eventually "interpret" it in a slightly different way.

You could point to the sudden changes in economic and military policies in the EU following the invasion of Ukraine as an example of the EU reacting quickly to something.

Though I think it should also be borne in mind that the EU's strictly limited competences (i.e. policy areas where it has power) limit the kinds of emergency situations in which it is even relevant. For example, it doesn't have a military or police force to speak of, and it has little involvement in public services and social policies.

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r3dl3g t1_j1v86jm wrote

>The EU can make arbitrary changes very quickly if all member states are in agreement

And the US can make arbitrary changes very quickly if only 50% of the house and 60% of the senate is in agreement. That's a hell of a lot easier to do than the insane unanimity required for EU legislation.

>You could point to the sudden changes in economic and military policies in the EU following the invasion of Ukraine as an example of the EU reacting quickly to something.

It was still far too slow to matter.

>For example, it doesn't have a military or police force to speak of, and it has little involvement in public services and social policies.

And the only reason this isn't an immense problem is entirely because the US props up the EU from a defense perspective.

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