DISINFO: The European Parliament does not have real powers, EU bureaucrats decide
SUMMARY
The European Parliament does not have real powers and opportunities to influence the decisions taken by bureaucrats and pragmatic politicians.
RESPONSE
This claim misrepresents the competences of the European Parliament and is consistent with a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about a dysfunctional EU governed by the bureaucrats and elites who are out of touch with the needs of the people. See an earlier case about Brussels bureaucrats.
The European Commission cannot adopt new legislation or amend existing EU legislation without consent from the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. The European Parliament is directly elected by the EU’s population. It approves and removes the president of the European Commission. The European Parliament also has the power to censure the Commission with a vote of two-thirds of its members, thereby forcing the Commission to resign.
As EU co-operation evolved with time, the European Parliament progressed from a purely advisory role to one of co-decision on an equal footing with the Council. The Lisbon Treaty expanded the number of policies which are subject to ordinary legislative procedure to virtually all areas including the areas of freedom, security and justice, external trade, environmental policy and the common agricultural policy.