Britain has always had a difficult relationship with the European Union, initially refusing to become a member before reluctantly joining, there seems to be a level of distrust of the European policies. I will explore this distrust within this essay. This essay will also give an insight into the history of Britain, the EU and identify any changes in British government’s policies since becoming a member.
For many people in Britain, the EU remains an unwelcoming aspect of their lives, this reflects on a dislike to ‘all things European.’ Mannin states “The European Union (EU) is a unique partnership in which countries work closely together for the benefit of all their citizens” (2010, p.343) People may believe that the UK is different to other countries and by joining the EU, Britain will lose its identity and by working closely with other countries, also its independence. The tabloid press have always seemingly had a highly negative view on the EU, The Sun reported that Labour had betrayed Britain; the article identifies weaknesses in the EU and claims Gordon Brown surrendered our country to Europe by shifting British power over. (2009)
Due to the EU’s apparent unpopularity, Politicians can find it difficult to show any enthusiasm as it could prove to be a disadvantage in an election. Jones et al, (2006, p.803) believe that people’s opinion on the EU is very important, and one which politicians take notice of, they state “UK public opinion on European issues has to be taken account of. The difficulty is that many members of the public regard the EU as remote until some threat to the British life is perceived, such as the abolition of the pound if the government were to join EMU.”
The Conservative government however, believes...
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Holmes, P, Introducing Politics for AS Level, London: Polity Press, 2008. [Chapter 8, sections 5, 6 & 7]
”Examine the extent to which the benefits of UK membership in the European Union outweigh the costs”
The United Kingdom, in the next year the people will get a chance to choose their countries’ fate in whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union. What makes this important is that it would be the first country to leave the European Union in a time when other European countries are either in negotiation or planning to join so it would be a big deal as the United Kingdom is Europe’s third largest economy. As the people are about to vote on their future, there are concern as what would be the economical, social, and political consequences while for some what would be the benefit if the United Kingdom leave. Today In the next paragraphs I would explore the United Kingdom in the European Union and the Political economical and social
The most significant and challenge to the traditional view of parliamentary sovereignty was Britain’s membership of the European Community in 1972. The European Communities Act 1972 brought with it the requirement that European Law be given priority over domestic courts over conflicting issues of national law. This notion was a direct affront to parliamentary sovereignty, which required that if a later statute, contradicted and earlier statute, which sought to incorporate European Law into English Law, then the later statute should impliedly repeal the earlier statute. Therefore the European Communities act imposed a substantive limit on the legislative ability of subsequent Parliaments.
Tom Newton Dunn, ‘Go to the war on the Eurom Law’ The Sun, 7 February 2011accessed 29 March 2011 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3395471/David-Cameron-urged-to-go-to-war-over-Euro-law.html
When analysts criticise the lack of democratic legitimacy in the EU they generally point to the mode of political representation and the nature of policy outputs. Only one branch of the EU is directly elected is the European Parliament. Though stronger than it once was, the EP remains is actually only one of four major actors in the EU policy-making process. The EP is a body without power or accountability, and easily dismissed just as a ‘talking shop’ (Colin Pilkington.) Only 75% of its amendments are accepted by the Commission and the Council of Ministers.
...: Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union. Journal of Common Market Studies, 40 (4), pp. 603-24.
The European Union as an established governing body is an essential example of this concept which must be reviewed as the establi...
The decision for United Kingdom to leave the European Union, commonly known as Brexit, has been a widely discussed topic due to the implications it will have economically, politically, and socially. Due to socio-spatial relations, these implications are not limited to only the United Kingdom, but will have a ripple of impacts throughout Europe and beyond. The implications from Brexit come in many forms, however, I plan to focus on the political and economic impacts that Brexit has had and will continue to have on the United Kingdom and the European Union. These nation-wide effects will in turn cause a change in socio-spatial relations among neighboring countries. The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European
Garner, R., Ferdinand, P. and Lawson, S. (2009) Introduction to Politics. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...
Various studies have scrutinised the overall impact of Brexit including the implications for jobs prospect, the effects on the public finances , its influence on the UK and also the possible risk it imposes on global economy. In conjunction with that, a plethora of analyses have also been attempted to quantify the economic impact Brexit primarily have on the UK , its region and also the rest the world. UK’s departure from the European Union , informally known as Brexit , bears an unswerving capacity to cut across the broad prism of economic constructs in both regional and global levels despite the wider claims that mentioned it is a risky step toward regional destabilization as EU loses its second largest
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (London: 2005). pp. 51, 71-72. Accessed May 3, 2014. http://www.jhud.co.uk/huddleston/uk2005_tcm77-248610.pdf.
The debate about British Identity has been prominently featured in recent years as a public concern. The foundation of British Identity was based on the act of union in 1801 between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland that created Great Britain. Heath and Roberts describe this identity as “a relatively recent construct and was gradually superimposed on earlier national identities of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish” (2008:4). The four nations were unified mainly because of the political and economic project of the British Empire that developed a shared agenda and The Second World War which melted the distinctive differences between the constituent nations (Ward, 2004). According to Colley, the interests that unified the nations do not exist and even if they do” they are less distinctive” (1992). Although there is identification with Britishness, it is noticeable that Britons hold a stronger allegiance to their primary nation. The British Identity is decreasing as many writers suggested, and this is due to many different trends and influences such as globalization, immigration and communication (Heath and Roberts, 2008). This essay highlights some of the reasons of the decline in the British national identity and the rise of the consentient nation’s sentiment. This is approached by firstly considering the internal factors of the devolution of power to Scotland and Wales, and secondly the external factor of immigration and will analyze the relationship between age and identification with a nation.
Hague, R. & M. Harrop (2010). Comparative Government and Politics. 8th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 64.