UK Government's Renegotiation of EU Membership

UK Government's Renegotiation of EU Membership PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee

Publisher:

Published: 2016-02-05

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13: 9780215091031

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By the end of 2017, the UK electorate will be invited to decide whether the UK should remain a member of the EU or leave the EU. Before inviting the electorate to make its choice, the Government is renegotiating the terms of the UK's EU membership. A process as critical as this should be subject to the most careful scrutiny. Yet we have found the Government's approach to Parliament during the renegotiation so far to be reactive and opaque. The onus has been placed on Parliament to guess when to request information and evidence from the Government and others. We regret this approach on a topic of such national importance. Dialogue between the Government and Parliament needs to improve substantially after the December European Council. Under Standing Orders, much of our work involves evaluating EU proposals for legal and political importance. In a similar way, we have assessed each of the Government's four areas of renegotiation against its own criteria. We conclude that the negotiation priorities as set out by the Prime Minister will not deliver the legally binding and irreversible agreement leading to reform of the EU nor a fundamental change in the UK's relationship with it envisaged by him. Given that no Treaty amendments will be made before the referendum, voters are entitled to know the extent to which subsequent Treaty amendment will be required to deliver any new agreement, and how robust and meaningful any guarantees or promises in this respect may be. The Government envisages immediate delivery of the renegotiation outcome by means of an international agreement. It should be clear to the voters that any such agreement would be consistent with the existing EU Treaties only insofar as it is limited to interpreting or supplementing them. It cannot substantively alter the EU Treaties.

HC 458 - UK Government's renegotiation of EU membership: Parliamentary sovereignty and scrutiny

HC 458 - UK Government's renegotiation of EU membership: Parliamentary sovereignty and scrutiny PDF

Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. European Scrutiny Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13: 0215088107

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By the end of 2017, the UK electorate will be invited to decide whether the UK should remain a member of the EU or leave the EU. Before inviting the electorate to make its choice, the Government is renegotiating the terms of the UK's EU membership. A process as critical as this should be subject to the most careful scrutiny. Yet we have found the Government's approach to Parliament during the renegotiation so far to be reactive and opaque. The onus has been placed on Parliament to guess when to request information and evidence from the Government and others. We regret this approach on a topic of such national importance. Dialogue between the Government and Parliament needs to improve substantially after the December European Council. Under Standing Orders, much of our work involves evaluating EU proposals for legal and political importance. In a similar way, we have assessed each of the Government's four areas of renegotiation against its own criteria. We conclude that the negotiation priorities as set out by the Prime Minister will not deliver the legally binding and irreversible agreement leading to reform of the EU nor a fundamental change in the UK's relationship with it envisaged by him. Given that no Treaty amendments will be made before the referendum, voters are entitled to know the extent to which subsequent Treaty amendment will be required to deliver any new agreement, and how robust and meaningful any guarantees or promises in this respect may be. The Government envisages immediate delivery of the renegotiation outcome by means of an international agreement. It should be clear to the voters that any such agreement would be consistent with the existing EU Treaties only insofar as it is limited to interpreting or supplementing them. It cannot substantively alter the EU Treaties.

The future of the European Union

The future of the European Union PDF

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

Publisher: Stationery Office

Published: 2013-06-11

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13: 9780215058799

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Proposals for reforms for the EU as a whole are likely to find a more favourable reception than possible requests for further 'special treatment' for the UK. The Committee is sceptical that other Member States would be willing to renegotiate existing EU law so as to allow the UK on its own to reduce its degree of integration, especially where this could be seen as undermining the integrity of the Single Market. Other Member States appear to want the UK to remain an EU Member. Closer Eurozone integration is a potential risk to the position of the UK and other non-Eurozone states in the EU. However, the December 2012 agreement on the Single Supervisory Mechanism for banking regulation shows what the UK can achieve to protect its position. The Eurozone is in any case far from a homogenous bloc and the expansion and closer integration of the Eurozone does not therefore necessarily render the UK's position in the EU impossible or worthless. This report does not examine whether the UK should remain in the EU or withdraw. However, it agrees with the Government that, if the UK were to leave the EU, the current arrangements for relations with the EU which are maintained by Norway or Switzerland would not be appropriate for the UK. If it is in the UK's interest to remain in the Single Market, the UK should either remain in the EU, or launch an effort for radical institutional change in Europe to give decision-making rights in the Single Market to all its participating states

An Awkward Partner

An Awkward Partner PDF

Author: Stephen George

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9780198782230

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This is the third edition of an established textbook on Britain's role in the European Community. Britain joined the EC in 1973, over twenty years after the first of the European Communities was formed. Within a year, she had established a reputation for being at odds with major Community initiatives and for taking an independent point of view.This reputation was consolidated over the next twenty-four years. In An Awkward Partner Stephen George surveys the policies that earned Britain this reputation, recording the role successive British governments have played in the European Community. He stresses the influence both of external circumstances and domestic political considerations in shaping these policies and analyses some of the underlying political reasons for Britain's perceived awkwardness. The first edition was the first book-length survey to appear in English of British policy toward the European Community, and rapidly became established as the leading book in the field for students. In this third edition, Stephen George brings his analysis up to date, taking the story of the Major Government through to its end in the 1997 general election. This new edition will continue to be invaluable to students taking courses on the European Community, comparative European politics, and public policy.

Britain and European Integration Since 1945

Britain and European Integration Since 1945 PDF

Author: David Gowland

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 041532212X

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Offering an introduction to Britain's relations with the European Union since 1945, this work combines an historical account with political analysis to illustrate the changing and multifaceted nature of British and European politics.

Why the UK Voted for Brexit

Why the UK Voted for Brexit PDF

Author: Andrew Glencross

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13: 1137590017

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This book studies the unprecedented decision of 23 June 2016, which saw the UK electorate vote to leave the EU, turning David Cameron’s referendum gamble into a great miscalculation. It analyzes the renegotiation that preceded the vote, before examining the campaign itself so as to understand why the government’s strategy for winning foundered. It then evaluates the implications that this decision has for the country’s international relations as well as for its domestic politics. The author’s final reflections are on the political philosophy of Brexit, which is founded on a critique of representative democracy. Yet the use of direct democracy to trigger EU withdrawal leaves the supposedly sovereign British people at an impasse. For it is up to the people’s representatives to negotiate the terms of Brexit. By engaging with a highly charged political debate in an accessible and non-partisan manner this book will appeal to a broad readership of academics, policy-makers, journalists, and interested citizens.

Brexit

Brexit PDF

Author: Harold D. Clarke

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-04-20

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1108293662

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In June 2016, the United Kingdom shocked the world by voting to leave the European Union. As this book reveals, the historic vote for Brexit marked the culmination of trends in domestic politics and in the UK's relationship with the EU that have been building over many years. Drawing on a wealth of survey evidence collected over more than ten years, this book explains why most people decided to ignore much of the national and international community and vote for Brexit. Drawing on past research on voting in major referendums in Europe and elsewhere, a team of leading academic experts analyse changes in the UK's party system that were catalysts for the referendum vote, including the rise of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), the dynamics of public opinion during an unforgettable and divisive referendum campaign, the factors that influenced how people voted and the likely economic and political impact of this historic decision.

The first referendum

The first referendum PDF

Author: Lindsay Aqui

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1526145219

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Although the United Kingdom’s entry to the European Community (EC) in 1973 was initially celebrated, by the end of the first year the mood in the UK had changed from ‘hope to uncertainty’. When Edward Heath lost the 1974 General Election, Harold Wilson returned to No. 10 promising a fundamental renegotiation and referendum on EC membership. By the end of the first year of membership, 67% of voters had said ‘yes’ to Europe in the UK’s first-ever national referendum. Examining the relationship between diplomacy and domestic debate, this book explores the continuities between the European policies pursued by Heath and Wilson in this period. Despite the majority vote in favour of maintaining membership, Lindsay Aqui argues that this majority was underpinned by a degree of uncertainty and that ultimately, neither Heath nor Wilson managed to transform the UK’s relationship with the EC in the ways they had hoped possible.

For the Record

For the Record PDF

Author: David Cameron

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 1076

ISBN-13: 0062687859

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David Cameron was elected Conservative leader in 2005, promising to modernize the party following its three successive electoral defeats. He became Prime Minister in 2010, forming Britain’s first coalition government in 70 years, at a moment of economic crisis, and went on to win the first outright Conservative majority for 23 years at the 2015 general election. In For the Record, he will explain how the governments he led transformed the UK economy while implementing a modern, compassionate agenda that included reforming education and welfare, legalizing gay marriage, honoring the UK’s commitment to overseas aid and spearheading environmental policies. He will shed light on the seminal world events of his premiership—the Arab Spring; the rise of ISIS; the invasion of Ukraine; the conflicts in Libya, Iraq and Syria—as well as events at home, from the Olympic Games in 2012 to the Scottish referendum. He will provide, for the first time, his perspective on the EU referendum and his views on the future of Britain’s place in the world following Brexit. Revealing the battles and achievements of his life and career in intimate and frank detail, For the Record will be an important assessment of the significant political events of the last decade, the nature of power and the role of leadership at a time of profound global change.

Reluctant European

Reluctant European PDF

Author: Stephen Wall

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020-09-24

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0198840675

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In 2016, the voters of the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union. The majority for 'Leave' was small. Yet, in more than 40 years of EU membership, the British had never been wholeheartedly content. In the 1950s, governments preferred the Commonwealth to the Common Market. In the 1960s, successive Conservative and Labour administrations applied to join the European Community because it was a surprising success, whilst the UK's post-war policies had failed. But the British were turned down by the French. When the UK did join, more than 10 years after first asking, it joined a club whose rules had been made by others and which it did not much like. At one time or another, Labour and Conservative were at war with each other and internally. In 1975, the Labour government held a referendum on whether the UK should stay in. Two thirds of voters decided to do so. But the wounds did not heal. Europe remained 'them', 'not 'us'. The UK was on the front foot in proposing reform and modernisation and on the back foot as other EU members wanted to advance to 'ever closer union'. As a British diplomat from 1968, Stephen Wall observed and participated in these unfolding events and negotiations. He worked for many of the British politicians who wrestled to reconcile the UK's national interest in making a success of our membership with the sceptical, even hostile, strands of opinion in parliament, the press and public opinion. This book tells the story of a relationship rooted in a thousand years of British history, and of our sense of national identity in conflict with our political and economic need for partnership with continental Europe.