| In a parliamentary democracy every minister has been elected to his seat in Parliament. Voters can literally fire the PM while giving the ruling party a majority. Take Canada. The PM - Papineau The defence minister - Scarborough South West Finance Minister - University - Rosedale Even the Speaker, who stands for the Majesty, is a member of the House - Hull Aylmer. While Cabinet members are, typically, given safe seats to run, cabinet members can and do lose their seat effectively ending their ministry. In a strong presidential system, like the US, the "ministers" (i.e.secretaries) are not in fact elected. But, not only are they approved by Congress, but they serve on behalf and on the whim of the President who is elected. The fount of executive authority is solely in the hands of the President, who merely delegates his authority (who have no power of their own) to the cabinet members and (except for the VP) can fire them at any time. The President holds all the executive power and the voters pick him. The EU commissioners are not elected and the Commission president is not elected |
In many (most?) of the democratic EU countries the voters cannot fire the PM/chancellor/etc. while keeping the ruling party in power. So, to have that expectation on EU level would be strange, as it is not typically realized in the constituents.
The EU commissioners and their president are nominated by the (often themselves indirectly) elected governments of the EU countries. That is a level of indirection too much for my taste, but it is still not undemocratic. But they have to be confirmed by the EP, which is elected directly.
One reason for that approach is that most possible candidates for the positions are completely unknown to the general populace in most EU countries. There is a lack of EU level political information and conscience in the EU. If the system has to be improved that is the point to start.