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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;chrisild, post: 1441713, member: 39&quot;]Agreed, except that the US concept of &quot;leadership&quot; does not necessarily apply elsewhere in the world. Look at the German federal level for example: Our president has a mostly representational office; we do not elect him directly but the president is elected by a body called Federal Assembly (the Bundestag members and delegates from the states). The chief of government is the chancellor who is elected by the Bundestag. Of course I know, before I vote, who is which party&#039;s &quot;chancellor candidate&quot; ...</p><p><br /></p><p>(As for such formal questions, last time I checked, you did not actually elect the US president ... unless you are part of the Electoral College. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> )</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Seems we have a problem here if you, almost as a premise, consider the EU governing bodies to be &quot;far away&quot; while yours are not ... per definition or law of American nature? <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Where I live, we have several &quot;levels&quot; of government - I vote for my borough (part of the city) council, the city council, the state parliament, the federal parliament ... and the European Parliament. I am used to, and agree with, the concept of different issues being decided upon by different bodies at different levels. And when it comes to matters that affect the EU as a whole, the decision should in my opinion be made at that level. I am all for moving even more power away from the European Council and the European Commission to the European Parliament. As I mentioned, this has been an ongoing process for years, and it will take more time.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>They are sovereign in the sense that they can leave the European Union, yes. But every country that joins the EU gives up some of its sovereignty. For example, there are two main types of law in the EU - &quot;regulations&quot; which are directly binding law everywhere in the Union, and &quot;directives&quot; which are framework law and are to be shaped/adapted by each member state by a certain deadline. And yes, a member state may choose to ignore such deadlines - but then it could be taken to court (infringement proceedings) and might be sentenced to a fine. By and large, however, such cases are resolved politically, at some early stage ...</p><p><br /></p><p>Christian[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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