What is Sovereignty? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Sovereignty is ‘Supremacy in respect of power, domination, or rank; supreme dominion, authority, or rule.’ So for the UK to have complete Sovereignty, it needs to be able to make decisions and set laws without the restriction or influence of an outside force – which is in this case the European Union. So now that the British Public have voted to leave the Union, where does the power sit?
As of this moment, the UK has not invoked Article 50 – and is therefore still in the EU and, legally, in the same position that it was in before the referendum. And, most importantly in reference to UK Sovereignty, the 1972 European Communities Act, passed in the Commons, still applies. This …show more content…
This is because the European Union is not the only organization in which the UK has conceded it’s Sovereignty – because Sovereignty isn’t just about making laws. It’s also about rule and control. The UK’s membership of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) means that, because of Article 5 and ‘Collective Defense’ obligations, the UK has a loss of Sovereignty in terms of deployment of the British Army. The UK’s membership of WTO (the World Trade Organization) means that the UK commits to regulation that transcends UK Law. These are just a few of the organizations in which the UK has membership to – and in turn the UK concedes pieces of its Sovereignty in order to gain in other areas, whether it be defensively or economically. So the UK will never be a fully Sovereign …show more content…
Many political and economic experts believe that the UK will become part of the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) in order to still have access to the single, European market – but this means that the UK will still have to concede on it’s Sovereignty; Norway, who is a member, is estimated to be adhering to about 90% of the EU’s regulations. Leave campaigners would like you to think that the UK could negotiate a special free-trade deal with the EU – without having to follow EU law – but lead countries in the Union have made it clear that this is not possible.
So, whether the United Kingdom breaks away fully from the Union or not, Westminster will never have full Sovereignty that many people believed it would when we voted to leave the European
As of this moment, the UK has not invoked Article 50 – and is therefore still in the EU and, legally, in the same position that it was in before the referendum. And, most importantly in reference to UK Sovereignty, the 1972 European Communities Act, passed in the Commons, still applies. This …show more content…
This is because the European Union is not the only organization in which the UK has conceded it’s Sovereignty – because Sovereignty isn’t just about making laws. It’s also about rule and control. The UK’s membership of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) means that, because of Article 5 and ‘Collective Defense’ obligations, the UK has a loss of Sovereignty in terms of deployment of the British Army. The UK’s membership of WTO (the World Trade Organization) means that the UK commits to regulation that transcends UK Law. These are just a few of the organizations in which the UK has membership to – and in turn the UK concedes pieces of its Sovereignty in order to gain in other areas, whether it be defensively or economically. So the UK will never be a fully Sovereign …show more content…
Many political and economic experts believe that the UK will become part of the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) in order to still have access to the single, European market – but this means that the UK will still have to concede on it’s Sovereignty; Norway, who is a member, is estimated to be adhering to about 90% of the EU’s regulations. Leave campaigners would like you to think that the UK could negotiate a special free-trade deal with the EU – without having to follow EU law – but lead countries in the Union have made it clear that this is not possible.
So, whether the United Kingdom breaks away fully from the Union or not, Westminster will never have full Sovereignty that many people believed it would when we voted to leave the European