Claim 3f8e473aChecked 09 Jul 2026
Partly True/FalseOn the truth scale
“It’s the civil servants – the Commission – that have the power.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
The claim is overstated. The European Commission does have real power: it has the right of initiative for most EU laws and oversees implementation/enforcement. But it is not the only body that 'has the power' in the EU system; under the ordinary legislative procedure, EU laws are jointly adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on a Commission proposal, and the Commission is described as the EU’s executive body rather than the sole lawmaker. Also, the Commission is politically led by Commissioners, while its employees are civil servants, so calling the whole institution 'the civil servants' is imprecise. (commission.europa.eu) Sources: European Commission ('Role of the European Commission'; 'Planning and proposing law'; 'Organisation of the European Commission'), European Parliament ('Legislative powers'), EUR-Lex (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Articles 289 and 294).
From article
I haven’t given up a successful career, I haven’t given up all my free time, I haven’t given up all my hobbies just because I want to be a politician. I’m in this out of conviction
The problem with that line of thinking is that, however rotten and bad we may view our political class at any given time, as long as we have a parliamentary democracy we have the power to change it, because we have the power to sack everybody and bring in new people with fresh political ideas. What you cannot do in this European system is change anything, because it’s the civil servants – the Commission – that have the power.
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