Unpopular legislation is often unpopular because it goes against people's best interests.
So you are saying that one of EUs main purposes is to allow politicians to circumvent the democratic process and so act against people's best interest.
EU is still a democratic institution, with representatives democratically elected by citizens of EU countries.
It's a different, bigger forum. This doesn't subvert the process. It may bring additional scrutiny and require international consensus. This is usually a higher bar for ramming bad laws than in local parliaments that may have dodgy deals or loyalties between parties/president/courts.
There are unpopular laws because they are bad ideas (like all the "think of the children" surveillance). There are also laws that are good for society long term, but unpopular due to short-term inconvenience (e.g. pollution limits raising prices, or anti-smoking laws vs smokers' freedoms).
So you are saying that one of EUs main purposes is to allow politicians to circumvent the democratic process and so act against people's best interest.