UK in the EU

There have been many changes that have occurred within the British constitution and political system as a result of British membership of the European Union. Here we will look at some of the most important and influential changes. While some are obvious, there are other, less clear, changes that have occurred as a result of the changing political face of Europe. We have to first look at what defines the British constitution, then discover what has changed.

A constitution is a basic set of rules and laws that establish the legitimate power held by various institutions in a country and what they are, and are not, allowed to do.

The British constitution is not a single codified document, but rather a largely unwritten one made up of many different components. These include; Acts of Parliament, which are also known as ‘statute law’ (that is, written, legal laws), common law, also known as traditional law. These are when earlier decisions have set "precedents," which are used in future cases of a similar nature. Treaties, various agreements signed between 2 or more countries, judicial reviews, where a court reviews the actions of an official person or body to see if their actions have been legal, and royal prerogative which is the (technical) right of the monarch to make decisions affecting parliament, though this is rarely used, except in largely ceremonial matters. It is mainly used by ministers on behalf of the monarch.

The 2 main basic principles involved in the British constitution are the ideas of ‘The Rule of Law’ and ‘Parliamentary sovereignty’.

The premise behind the ‘rule of law’ is that it is basic legal rules that effect a persons rights, they cannot be changed or removed by someone in authority just because they want to, everyone has the right to freedom from punishment, unless they have been found guilty of breaking the law and finally, everyone is equal before the law. Social position or power does not make a person ‘above the law’.

Traditionally, the British political system was run on a basis of Parliamentary Sovereignty, which is the basis for all representative democracies in the western world. This means that, in theory, Parliament is the highest authority in the land with no constraints on their power and that it has the power to make or repeal any law. There is no higher authority. It also means that if parliament decides to change, create and remove any law it can do so, it does not have to abide by decisions made by previous parliaments, though its successors will have that same power. (The new British Politics)

However, over the years, parliamentary sovereignty has been slowly reduced in Britain due to many things including the signing of various treaties. Over the years there has been great change in Europe. This started after the Second World War, when there was great devastation throughout most of Europe with some countries effectively in ruins.

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This led to the creation of many treaties and alliances. The Treaty of Dunkirk was one of the first, with several countries signing in an attempt to begin working together to help restore Europe to economic security. This was followed by the ‘Treaty of Paris’ (1951) which established the ‘European Coal and Steel Community’ (ECSC), which created a deal between France and Germany where both helped each other gain something. The ‘Treaty of Rome’ (1957), which established the ‘European economic Community’, which encouraged trade, in particular agricultural between countries. The ‘Single European Act’ (1987), had, as its main aim, the idea of establishing a single market, and the ‘Treaty on European union’ more commonly referred to as the ‘Maastricht treaty’ (1992). (The Political System of the European Union).

Most important to discussions regarding changes to the British political system is Britain joining the European Union and the signing of other treaties with different countries. One of the first of these to profoundly affect the British political system was the Treaty of Rome (1957) which established the European Economic Community. In 1986 the Single European Act committed member states to attempting to create a single, Europe wide economy and establish a single market with free trade agreements

The biggest change in British Politics in recent years has been that since joining the EU that body’s laws now have precedence over UK law. From then on Britain was committed to following European law, even when this comes into direct conflict with British law. The result of this is that, when a British citizen feels that they have a disagreement with an aspect of British law, they now have a ‘higher authority’ to appeal to. The European Court of Justice (ECJ), based in Luxemburg, provides a platform for challenging the decisions of the British courts. This is not only the case in Britain but in all countries in the European Union. The name given to the collections of laws created by the European Community is known as “acquis communautaire”, and includes all treaties, rules and directives passed by the European Court of Justice. These laws them become transferred wholesale to new member states joining the EC. This, of course, just creates a whole new level of bureaucracy and difficulties to legal proceedings, (Maastricht and Beyond, Building the European Union).

A famous example of this was the ‘Factortame’ case. This involved a Spanish boat, whose owners claimed that the Merchant Shipping Act (1988), a British law, did not apply to them as it was contrary to European law. The case went all the way to the House of Lords who agreed that the EU law should take priority. This was a very important moment in British politics as, not only had it shown that British laws were secondary to European laws, but that even acts of Parliament could be declared illegal. When the ECJ adopted the ‘European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights’ this convention therefore became part of the British legal system, with no regard for the wishes of the British legal system, and without going through the regular parliamentary procedures needed to pass a law in the UK. This goes completely against the system of parliamentary sovereignty that had been in place, where no law or authority was higher than parliament. (The new British politics)

The Maastricht Treaty (which had changed the name from the ‘European Community’ to the ‘European Union’ (EU)) also added common defence policy, common foreign policy and a common policy for justice and home affairs to the list of aims. It was not until 1993 that Britain, under John Major, signed the Maastricht Treaty. These treaties were all consolidated into one with the Treaty of Nice (2000)

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Despite becoming gradually more integrated with Europe through the signing of various treaties, Britain has secured certain ‘opt outs’, in an attempt to keep some of its own national identity and a separate power base. When the ‘Exchange Rate Mechanism’ (ERM) was created, in an attempt to keep currency fluctuations to a minimum, it was seen by many as the precursor to full ‘financial integration’ (The New British Politics). One of the articles in the Maastricht Treaty was the framework for the establishing of a single currency. This was ‘The European Economic and Monetary Union’ (EMU). Even although it was stated that the EMU could not be “cancelled or postponed without breach of EU treaty” (The Political System of the European Union), Britain still retained its opt out and refused to make the transition to the ‘third stage’, that is, changing over to a single currency.

The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) is composed of the (ECB) and the national (NCBs) of all countries in the European Union. Its main job is to attempt to control inflation and help keep the European economy running smoothly.

Britain’s decision, under John Major, not to join the rest of the EU in the creation of a single currency was arranged by Britain claiming that it would ‘postpone’ joining; rather that flatly refusing to, though this opt out is still in effect today, 16 years later. The reason behind this decision was a fear that joining a single currency would effectively end Britain’s economic sovereignty which it has always guarded fiercely. Though perhaps, the very idea of economic sovereignty is an illusion. As nearly all countries in the world are so involved with each other, through trade, education, immigration and so on, is it really possible for one country to be economically separate?

Another major decision was to opt out of the common defence and common foreign policies. These were written with the aims of strengthening ties between member countries, to protect and provide defence for all member countries and to develop and protect democracy, the rule of law, respect for people’s basic rights and freedoms.

Agreeing to these, it was felt, would mean that Britain would lose control over its own defence and foreign policies which was unacceptable to the British government. They were very clear about their wish to keep these things strictly under British control, with the help of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, (NATO) if help was needed. (The Political System of the European Union) This was acceptable to Britain as they already had strong links with NATO and especially America.

The ‘Social chapter’ on welfare and the regulations of working hours, was an important part of the Maastricht Treaty and was written with the intention of “promoting social progress and a high level of employment”, the promotion of better working conditions, equal pay and the free movement of workers between member countries (The Political System of the European Union). However, Britain (and Denmark) refused to accept it and the rules in it regarding minimal working conditions. (The New British Politics).

The social chapter was later partially accepted by the Labour party when they came into power, when they accepted such things as a basic, minimum wage. However they still refused to accept such things as limiting how many hours a week a person was allowed to (or to be made to) work.

As we have seen, the ties that bind Britain to the rest of Europe and strong ad far reaching. It would not be possible to discuss the political situation in Britain without discussions of Europe

There is still debate about whether Britain should retain some independence, especially in economic, defence and foreign matters, or whether we should be working even more closely with Europe in an attempt to create a stronger, more unified community.

Either decision would have an impact on the concept of Parliamentary sovereignty which has prevailed for so long in Britain.