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Britain Has Lost Its Sovereignty as a Member of the Eu

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Submitted By Jcarver97
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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 our trade and competition policies, and how has some influence over almost every policy area.

This argument for the UK no longer being sovereign has led to frustration that elected MPs and Ministers can no longer do as the electorate wants. It could be argued, democracy is undermined as elected MPs can no longer fulfil the interests of the electorate, but instead has to answer to a preponderant power, that is the EU. Also, a government can look ineffective and powerless if it cannot extradite who it likes, control its own borders, decide what interest rates should be or how banks should be controlled, or settle the price of energy and how it is to be produced.

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