Farage's core assertion is that in the EU, unlike in a national parliamentary democracy, voters have no power to effect change because the Commission (unelected "civil servants") holds the power. This is an absolute claim — "you cannot change anything." The EU's structure does give the Commission a near-monopoly on legislative initiative: only the Commission can formally propose new EU legislation. This is a genuine and well-documented feature of the EU's "democratic deficit." However, the claim that people "cannot change anything" is contradicted by several established facts about the EU's institutional framework: 1. The European Parliament is directly elected by EU citizens every five years since 1979, with around 400 million eligible voters. 2. The Parliament is a co-legislator with the Council in the great majority of EU policy areas (following the Lisbon Treaty's expansion of co-decision). It can amend, approve, or reject legislation proposed by the Commission. 3. The Parliament approves the Commission. Since the Maastricht Treaty (1992), the Parliament must approve the Commission President and the College of Commissioners before they can take office. Individual Commissioners-designate must face parliamentary hearings, and candidates have been rejected (e.g., in 2010). 4. The Parliament can dismiss the Commission. Through a motion of censure (requiring a two-thirds majority), Parliament can force the entire Commission to resign. In 1999, the Santer Commission resigned under threat of such a motion. 5. National governments, which are democratically elected, appoint Commissioners and sit in the Council of the European Union, which is the other co-legislator alongside the Parliament. 6. The European Citizens' Initiative (introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, entering into force in 2012) allows one million citizens from at least seven member states to call on the Commission to propose legislation. So while Farage correctly identifies a real democratic limitation — the Commission's monopoly on legislative initiative and its lack of direct election — his absolute claim that "you cannot change anything" is an overstatement. Citizens can and do influence EU governance through European Parliament elections, national elections (which determine Council composition and Commissioner appointments), parliamentary oversight mechanisms, and citizens' initiatives. The EU has a democratic deficit, but it is not a system in which nothing can be changed. Sources: - European Parliament Factsheets: "The European Union's institutional framework" — https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/19/the-european-union-s-institutional-framework - European Parliamentary Research Service: "European elections 2024: Rules of a pan-European democratic event" — https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2024/757649/EPRS_BRI(2024)757649_EN.pdf - SAGE Journals: "The EU and Its Democratic Deficit: Problems and (Possible) Solutions" — https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1007/S12290-012-0213-7 - Wikipedia: "Democratic legitimacy of the European Union" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_legitimacy_of_the_European_Union - Moravcsik, "In Defence of the 'Democratic Deficit'" — https://www.iilj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Moravcsik-In-Defense-of-the-Democratic-Deficit-2003.pdf