While the Commission have mostly free hands to govern, European Parliament, elected by Europeans can veto their laws and can even veto the commission itself.
European Commission is nothing else than an unelected government controlled by a parliament like it happens in most countries.
Also, ultimately, the commission is nominated by elected representatives of each country so, depending on how you see the thing, we could even say that they are more democratically nominated than most governments.
The only major difference between EU and most countries is that the parliament don’t have legislative power.
note I put "undemocratic" in quotes, I do not think it is actually undemocratic, but I do think it feels that way.
This is because the main difference between the EU parliament and a country parliament is that the average European has only a vague inkling of who their MEP is, what groups or parties exist in the EU parliament, and how they stand on issues.
People do not (generally) change their vote for a MEP because they did good/bad in their last term, they change their vote because they agree/disagree with the national party they represent.
European Commission is nothing else than an unelected government controlled by a parliament like it happens in most countries.
Also, ultimately, the commission is nominated by elected representatives of each country so, depending on how you see the thing, we could even say that they are more democratically nominated than most governments.
The only major difference between EU and most countries is that the parliament don’t have legislative power.