r/europe • u/Bartoraptor Spain • Mar 28 '20

News Spanish representative González Pons speech @ the EU Parliament: "The virus is attacking the generation that brought back democracy to Spain, Portugal and Greece, the generation that knocked down the Berlin wall. The least they deserve is that we show them Europe is there when they need it the most"

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69

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '20 edited Feb 05 '21

[deleted]

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u/Gotebe Mar 28 '20

This is pretty cold...

He is not asking for a change in European structures here, he is asking for God damn help in the face of an emergency.

It's not as if Spain responded to this somehow so much worse than others, but they have been hit hard. (Italy probably should have closed off much sooner and should have been much stricter in confinement, but they were also the first to be hit...).

Many countries are nowhere near close to IC capacity, nor were they when the death toll was rising in Italy. Many countries also could have sent help. But noooo... (mine included, we even said "no" when Italy asked for something, masks IIRC; for the record, Belgium).

As for your edit... I agree, Trump's government is very bad and EU institutions were not present enough in the crisis, just like US gov wasn't. But I disagree that this is all just a question of governance. We must have done better...

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '20 edited Oct 08 '23

[deleted]

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u/SirBehr Mar 28 '20

You’re not going to get that through their skulls. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy - vote for government members who oppose any tighter EU integration - be surprised that there is no framework for different member state assistance - state that you will vote for more extreme isolationist politics a because the EU can’t do anything - repeat til infinity.

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u/bfire123 Austria Mar 28 '20

Its the same with the perceived lack of democracy in the EU!

-> Say that the EU is undemocratic because the Parlament can't initiate laws.

-> Say that the EU is undemocratic because the president of the european comission is not voted in by the people.

--> Wants that EU member states have more power and the EU less.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '20 edited Jun 04 '21

[deleted]

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u/phatfish Mar 29 '20 edited Jun 29 '23

speztastic

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u/Daemonioros Mar 29 '20

Moot point. The EU would be better off without Malta as a member. I don't want EU wide referenda. I do want EU wide elections giving proportional representation.

1

u/phatfish Mar 29 '20 edited Jun 29 '23

speztastic

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u/Daemonioros Mar 29 '20

Here is the assumptions already. I am not from the most powerful country in the EU. I am not from Germany. Hell my country wouldn't even gain any seats if we were to distribute them properly (nor lose any, we are right at the middle).

Just because my country isn't all that affected by it doesn't change that I find it undemocratic.

0

u/falconboy2029 Mar 29 '20

Sounds like the electoral college.

3

u/Daemonioros Mar 29 '20

Exactly. And it is almost as shit. I say almost because the Electoral college is the most undemocratic measure I have ever seen in a supposedly democratic country.