...Britain and the EU Understanding world politics is something that I have never felt it was necessary for me to learn in my life. After only a few weeks in this course, I have realized that it is necessary to get an understanding of world politics and the world around you if you aim to be a truly educated person. One of the first political stories I was made aware of was Britain’s decision to leave the EU if the terms they wanted were not agreed upon. When I first heard this, I didn’t know what the terms were, why they wanted to leave, or what the EU even was. After further inquiring and researching, I have found out that Britain potentially leaving the EU was actually a big deal. Over the course of this paper, I will attempt to inform about the importance of Britain leaving the EU and what this could mean for British citizens and the rest of the EU using some of the tools and perspectives that we learned in class. The Prime minister of Britain, David Cameron, has voiced many concerns that he has with the EU and has stated all of the reforms that he wants for Britain; “He has said he will campaign for Britain to remain in the EU if he gets the reforms he wants” (“Q&A: What Britain Wants From Europe”). I see this move from Cameron as a potential grasp for power from the EU. In a stat from James Kirkup from telegraph.co.uk, Britain is responsible for paying the EU £12.9 billion which equates to just under 18.2 billion dollars. This is a large amount of the EU budget, in fact...
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...It can be argued that Britain has lost its sovereignty as a member of the EU as much of our law is now defined or influenced by EU law; EU law overrides UK statute law. Therefore, there are laws Parliament cannot pass because it has to stay within the EU legal framework. It can be argued that now Britain complies to the EU, conforming it it's regulations and rules, rather than by the nation's own; no longer being sovereign. This is evident in the Factortame case, 1990. The Factortame case led to a series of landmark decisions in UK and EU law. The case confirmed the supremacy of the European Union law over national law in the areas where the EU had superiority. The decision raised a number of particularly significant constitutional issues in the debate in the UK over the argued erosion of parliamentary sovereignty. The judgment in the second appeal before the House of Lords formed part of the UK's uncodified body of constitutional law. Through this case, it became evident that EU law was superior and now the EU had great influence and power over the UK, rather than the reverse. Furthermore, our judicial system is controlled by the European Convention on Human Rights, whereby if a person is unsatisfied with a judicial decision in the UK, they can appeal to the EU for further consideration in a judicial review. Often this has meant that the EU overrides the UK court decision. The EU runs our agriculture and fishing policies, has a major say in our environmental policies, runs...
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...remain in the EU? In the aftermath of the Second World War, Winston Churchill called for the creation of a "United States of Europe" to bind France and Germany together. In doing so, he made clear that Britain would be a supportive but independent partner of any such entity. He famously said: 'We are with Europe but not of it." In the end, Britain did join the European Economic Community but only in 1973, 15 years after the Treaty of Rome was signed. We joined the Social Chapter in 1997, eight years after it was adopted by other member states. And we never signed up to Economic and Monetary Union or the Schengen Agreement on common borders. However, it is not until now that the British public have been presented with the opportunity to have their say on the matter of our continued membership. Following the 2015 general election, the re-elected Prime Minister David Cameron reiterated a Conservative Party manifesto commitment to hold an 'in-out' referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union by the end of 2017 following renegotiations with EU leaders. This means that between now and the vote the public have to decide whether Europe benefits the country regarding immigration, trade, investment and the protection of Human Rights and peace. Firstly, with regards to the economic repercussions of leaving the EU, many supporters of the so called “Brexit” claim that Britain would have very little difficulty in negotiating some form of free trade agreement with the EU once it left...
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...To what extent is UK membership of the EU an opportunity for UK businesses? (40) To a large extent, EU membership arguably is an opportunity for UK businesses as it allows them to operate in a single market. The ability for members to trade without restrictions or tariffs is a significant benefit to business, with imports and exports being made easier and sometimes cheaper. In addition, the EU is Britain`s biggest trading partner with it being worth more than £400bn a year. The possibility such benefits could be taken away has probed business to come out and speak on a possible EU exit. A key example of this is the European aerospace and defence giant Airbus. Paul Kahn, president of Airbus UK has revealed the company would reconsider investment in the UK in the event of Britain leaving the European Union. Kahn said Britain must compete for international investment and "The best way to guarantee this is by remaining part of the EU”. The disadvantages of Britain being alone has become clear, posing question such as could Britain negotiate a similar trade agreement, or would a move out of the EU ultimately lead to less favourable economic conditions for businesses in the UK than in other parts of Europe. The Confederation of British Industry has recently published that a UK exit from the EU would cause a "serious economic shock", which could potentially cost the country £100bn. If British economic success is effected, this could affect the appetite of potential investors which could...
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...INF38 Driving in Great Britain (GB) as a visitor or a new resident For more information go to www.direct.gov.uk/driving 19656 8/12 Contents 1 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA licences) 2 Northern Ireland driving licences 3 Countries we have agreements with for exchanging licences (designated countries) 4 Licences from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man 5 All other countries 6 Driving in Great Britain as a student 7 How to exchange your non-GB licence for a GB licence 8 How to apply for a provisional GB driving licence 9 How to get our forms and leaflets 10 Further information 11 Quick summary table 3 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 14 This leaflet explains the current rules affecting people who have non-GB driving licences and are visiting, or have come to live in, Great Britain. All drivers must meet the minimum age requirements for driving in Great Britain. Generally, you must be: n 17 to drive a car or a motorcycle n 18 to drive a medium-sized vehicle (for example, a vehicle between 3500kg and 7500kg with a trailer up to 750kg), and n 21 to drive a large lorry or a bus. Booklet INS57P, ‘Information on driving licences’, gives more information on minimum ages. The information in this booklet applies to both ‘ordinary’ and ‘vocational’ licences (see below). Vocational licences A vocational licence is one that entitles you to drive minibuses and buses, and medium-sized or large vehicles weighing over 3500kg and able to tow a trailer over...
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...an exit from the EU benefit the British economy? Advocates of the UK leaving the EU claim that there would be little trouble negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU once it left, because the UK has a large trade deficit with the rest of the Union. If trade barriers between Britain and the remaining member-states were erected upon exit, the EU would lose more exports earnings from Britain than vice versa. At the same time, the UK would be freed from the burdens of EU regulation and hence able to boost trade with faster growing parts of the world, nations such as China, US and emerging markets that include India that are not part of Europe. This could be done by eliminating tariffs and signing trade agreements without the constraints of EU membership. Undermining this assertion is the belief that the UK is a big enough economy to be an effective trade negotiator in its own right. As a result it might be concluded that the UK would see little impact from leaving the EU except perhaps a minor reduction in trade while new arrangements were made. However, it would be ill judged to assume that the UK would be able to dictate terms with the EU simply because it is running a trade deficit. Primarily, the EU buys half of Britain's exports whereas the UK accounts for little over 10 per cent of exports from the rest of the EU, so the UK would be in a weak position to negotiate access on its terms. Furthermore, it could be argued that the UK's access to many non-EU markets comes as...
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...for the creation of a larger organization to promote economic prosperity by binding national economies together. If their economies were interlinked, a future war would be almost impossible. Britain did not see itself as part of Europe at this stage. The Attlee government looked to its special relationship with the United States and its Empire and Commonwealth. Then there was the need to establish a welfare state. The beginnings of European integration can be traced to the Schuman Plan of 1950. This proposed the European Coal and Steel Community. It was a French plan – Schuman was the French Foreign Minister – to place the French and German ‘industries of war’ under supranational control. The plan came into operation in 1952. The Franco-German axis remains at the core of the process of European integration. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by the representatives of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Germany. This established two new communities: the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community, or EEC. In 1967, all three European institutions merged their institutions. They were collectively known as the European Community, or EC. In November 1993, with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the Community was renamed the European Union, or EU. The name European Federal Union was...
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...Table of contents 1. Introduction 2 2. The variety of economic and political systems in Europe 3 3. The institution European Union. 7 4. The impact of the EU on its member states. 11 5. Lobbying in the EU. 13 6. Conclusion 17 References 17 Appendices 17 1. Introduction On January 1st. 2007, the European Union (EU) has completed its last enlargement round till now by accepting Romania and Bulgaria as full members. The union now counts 27 member states, incorporating an enormous number of more than half a billion inhabitants. Obviously, each member largely effects and is affected by the European Union. The research interest of this paper is therefore to shed light on the construct European Union, by exploring the relationship between the European Union, its member states and constituents. The topic will be approached by first examining the varieties and interrelations of political and economic systems in major European countries. In a second step, the organizations and the governance of the European Union will be discussed, leading to the analysis of the EU impact on its member states. The third part is an analysis of the expression of interest in the EU. Finally, main arguments will be summarized to arrive at a conclusion. 2. The variety of economic and political systems in Europe The legitimation of a community like the European Union is inevitably linked to the existence...
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...David Camerons EU speech The 18th of January 2013 David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, delivered a speech long waited for regarding UK’s present position and their wished future in the EU. The reason for this speech lies in the concern and dissatisfaction with the current relationship between UK and the EU and this dissatisfaction was undeniable and irrevocable as it came from multiple parties. Therefor there had been calls for a referendum to be held about participating in the EU or not, which led to the necessity of the speech, given to attain focus on UK’s future and what they would have to do to achieve the visions of the 21st century. It was also necessary to mention to the people that he has visions for the UK as well as Europe and also address the important choice the people has in front of them as it would be put in their hands to decide whether they should continue the cooperation with the EU or not. When a country is in despair it has been proven at several occasions how powerful a motivating and collected speech can be and with the uncertainty of UK’s position in the EU as it is now as well in the future, David Cameron’s was much needed to assert that they will take action and the outcome will be profitable for UK as a whole. The speech consists of 5 main parts where the first one revolves around the past to identify the previous goals of the EU, such as securing peace, which have been reached. To claim that these goals have been reached naturally leads to the...
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...Let me paint you a picture of a Britain not in the EU, a Britain alone and isolated. This Britain faces unemployment of around 11 million people. It faces problems of reduced immigration creating even more financial difficulties. It faces an extremely volatile and uncertain situation regarding future trade with other countries. Today I am going to talk about why these two main points- trade and immigration – form the argument of why we should stay in the EU. The first issue I am going to raise is trade. A huge benefit to the UK and UK businesses is that as a member of the EU we have access to worry-free and tariff-free trading with all its members. As such, approximately a staggering 50% of our exports go to the EU. Critically, leaving the EU puts our economy under threat. The hope of euro sceptics that we can easily enjoy a free-trade agreement such as Switzerland and Norway is both unrealistic and more importantly dangerous. If the UK leaves the EU, it is likely that UK based firms will relocate abroad, leaving a massive hole in our economy and forcing us into another recession. Furthermore, if we were to still have a free-trade agreement with the EU, we would still have to comply with all the strict regulations. Only, these would now be regulation that we had no input or control over what so ever. Can you honestly say, having just come out of one of the biggest depressions in over half a century and with confidence slowly crawling out of the gutters, that you are prepared...
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...treaty or another political agreement, the discontent with the European Union seems to be growing. While the Eurobarometer shows that the citizens still believe it to be beneficial to be part of the EU, the dissatisfaction is rather directed at EU policy (London School of Economics and Political Science, 2013). Whether it’s the question of enlargements, social policy or country bail-outs, the Europeans seem to be disagreeing more and more with the top of the European politics. However, nowhere is the Eurosceptism as marked as it is in Britain. And it doesn’t seem to lessen. On the contrary, organising protest against new EU-initiatives has never been easier (The Economist, 2012). Of course, looking back at Britain history it’s not hard to understand why words like “United States of Europe” or “the European Superstate” fire up the public indignation (Donnelly, 2012). Those trying to appease the opponents try to point out the benefits Britain’s EU membership brings, like political and economic stability and developments. Furthermore, the very nature of the EU forces everyone to make concessions in order to create consensus. After all, as the saying goes, a good compromise leaves everyone dissatisfied. As for the growing integration, the argument is this is the natural and only path the EU can take. With the globalisation making it harder for single countries to compete globally or to influence global politics, there is now need...
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...different cources, some of which are written and some of which that are not,for example the main sources of the British constitution are: major consititutional documents, works of authority, conventions, statute law, European law, and common law. There is no one singular written constitution. This would be a codified constitution where all of the laws and rules of authority are written in one unified document, this form of constitution is, for example, within use in the USA. Although the British constitution is an uncodified one presently, it can be argued that it is becoming increasingly codified for several reasons. One of these reasons is due to the effects of our membership as a country in the EU, as of 1973. One of the effects that took place in UK politics after joining the EU was the introduction of the 1998 Human Rights Act. This would enshrine the already present convention within UK law, but would also effectively replace much of the common law within respect to various freedoms for the countries population, (for example the freedom from arrest without trial, which would later result in tension over terrorism and attempted terrorism, and the freesom of speech assembly). The introduction of the Human Rights Act in the UK increased the overall political role of the judges due to how they could now declare acts of parliament or decisions of ministers to be incompatible with the Human Rights Act. This also concequently has cause te devolution of legislation, therefore limiting...
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...administrative affairs) and his struggles to bring about changes in the government. His attempts are prevented by his Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby. 2. Kaj so povedal notr glede Brexita in EU + The devil you know Even though Yes, minister is 30 years old the political issues mentioned seem timeless. There are two episodes that in my opinion describe what British people think about the EU. I’m going to show you this clip from the episode The writing on the wall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37iHSwA1SwE In this clip that went viral around the time Brexit happened, Sir Humphrey Appleby explains to Jim Hacker that the reason the UK joined the EU (or what was at that time European Economic Community) was to destroy it from inside. The clip further explains that Britain was eager to bring more countries to join the EU but only to make them quarrel between themselves/to encourage disagreements between them and by that make the EU become weaker. It shows what could have been the reason the UK actually joined the EU in the first place and how British people actually view the EU....
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...United Nations The United Nations is an organization established 24 October 1945. It was a replacement for the League of Nations. The UN was created following the Second World War to prevent another such conflict. The organization is financed by giving its member states a substantial fee. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and economic development, protecting the environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. The UN has an agreement with all other nation states to not get in conflict with each other and to settle differences in meetings to prevent another world war. It also makes them stronger as a military force as the UN is meant to back up a nation in the UN if they got in conflict with a country outside of the UN. NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a group that is made up of different member countries bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. This includes European countries with United States and Canada. NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. NATO member countries agree that if any one country is attacked, the other countries will come to help them. It's hoped this will stop military attacks on any NATO country. They also have high prevalence of humanitarian aid in helping areas affected by natural disasters and civil war. NATO promotes democracy...
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...ways. In broad terms, globalisation denotes the free movement of goods, services, capital, funds, ideas, technology and people across countries. Many people think globalisation is a recent phenomenon. This is not true. This has been going on for centuries. What has made it unique in recent times is the speed of the movement. Great Britain and many other countries in Europe have reached the present level of economic development only because of this free movement. In both demographic and geographic terms, Britain is a small country. It is not the size of the domestic market that determined its growth. London could not have emerged as the financial centre of the world but for the free flow of capital. The gamut of financial services offered by London is geared to meet world demand and not that of Britain alone. Even after the exit from the EU, Britain cannot remain as an isolated island. It has to be part of an international trade regime which allows for free trade. What then could have motivated a little more than 50 per cent of the population to come out of the EU? It has something to do with the nature of the relationship within the EU. The EU has evolved over the last seven...
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