The Effects of EU membership on UK Politics B.AtkinsonThere UK has been affected in various ways through being a member of the EU. There have

been both positive and negative effects. Firstly, there is the issue of Sovereignty. The conventional view is that there has been a

remorseless transferral of Sovereignty from London to Brussels, for example, agricultural policies, fishing policies and immigration laws. There is however a counter view whereby the Sovereignty of the UK parliament may be increased. This is the idea of pooling sovereignty that results in its increase. This is because the UK now has more power over the governing over other countries within the EU. For example, we now have a say in the laws within France or Belgium. For some of the smaller countries in the EU will have far more leverage beyond their weight as a result of EU membership. Bigger countries will see EU membership as a loss in sovereignty compared to that of the smaller ones. On the other hand, the UK has been affected in a negative way by the EU fishing policy that has a large effect on our economy; we still have little power over the economies of other nations. In 1990 there was the Factortame case in which there were disputes over the fishing within English waters. Spanish fishing boats were registering their boats in Britain so they had the right to fish in our waters and take the fish back to Spain. The British government attempted to prevent this from occurring, however, the House of Lords rejected the case as the Spanish have the right to register their boats in the UK under EU trade agreements. We can therefore see that our Sovereignty has been lost in this respect.

Secondly, there is the effect of Political Parties. The EU has never created a single divide between the parties. There are 3 main points of view with regards to the EU; Europhilic, Eurosceptic and Europhobic. All three of those views are present within the Conservatives and Labour Party; however, this is less true within the Liberals. In 1975 the Conservatives were very pro-Europe and Labour was against it. However, over the years, the points of views of the two parties have reversed. This divide has caused difficulties, especially within the Conservative party. For example, under John Major, the cabinet was split and he had much trouble passing the Maastricht Treaty. Even now, the Conservatives have lost favour after not calling for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The Labour Party also has problems regarding the EU as it is funded by the Trade Unions who are more Eurosceptic than the Labour frontbenchers. This is strange, as the EU has brought in legislation that favours the Labour Party supporters. As a party, the Liberals have not altered their views greatly. Perhaps the main problem for the Conservatives is that many of their voters are Eurosceptic and could vote for UKIP rather than them.

Thirdly, English pressure groups are now operating in Brussels as much if not more than in London. This makes sense as 80% of English legislation comes from Brussels and the aim of Pressure Groups is to influence legislation. These groups can include the National Farmers Union and Green Peace. Brussels is seen to be a new place to lobby.

Next, there have been effects on the Judiciary. The UK Judiciary has been wholly affected and changed by EU membership for various reasons. The EU has had a huge effect on UK law; however, it has given the Judiciary a large amount of work to do in interpreting in EU in the light of UK law and where the two laws conflict the Judiciary has the responsibility of asserting EU law, for example, the Factortame case. The new Supreme Court will have to take EU law into account when it makes its appeal judgement. Where the two systems contend, the court will have no choice but to assert the primacy of EU law.

There has also been an effect on the electorate as well as the UK itself. As voters, we are expected to vote in European elections, which uses a different voting system. However, many people in the UK have benefitted as a result of EU law, for example, there are many places in the UK which have gained regenerated by EU money (Leeds, Gateshead). There are even remote areas on the West coast of Scotland where millions of pounds have been spent on new buildings and docks.

Finally, the EU has had effects on the British Constitution itself. There is the whole issue of Sovereignty where the EU itself is now a source of the Constitution. The issue of subsidiarity is very prominent, whereby what decisions are made at different levels of power, from those in the EU parliament to those in small counties. The British constitution comes under some pressure, as we are the only European country that uses First Past The Post as a method of electing our Parliament. Whether this is a good or bad thing, Britain is singular in this method. Britain is also the only country to have a hereditary second chamber; other countries have experienced much constitutional modernisation.

In conclusion, the UK has been affected in various ways including the British Constitution, the Electorate, the Judiciary, Pressure Groups, and the Sovereignty of Parliament. These effects have both been positive and negative, for example, it can be argued that the UK has gain Sovereignty over other countries, however, as a country we have lost Sovereignty over our own people which is perhaps more important.