A-Level政治学-欧盟对英国政治的影响EU Impacted British Politics。

Revision: Impact of the EU on British Politics

Is the UK still an awkward partner in relation to the EU? Is Euroscepticism becoming more prominent in UK politics?

The findings of the Eurobarometer survey published in September 2000 appear to give heart to those politicians from all the major UK political parties who advance a Eurosceptic position

In comparison with those of most of the other member states the UK population seems to perceive fewer benefits from membership and seems markedly more reluctant to extend EU competence further into areas thus far reserved for nation-states

Only 25% of UK respondents felt that EU membership was 'a good thing' and that the country has benefited from membership, in both cases the least positive of all the 15 member states at that time

Whilst this points to skepticism a fuller interrogation of the findings suggests a more complex position

The UK public is more split on the EU than most of its partners and a much larger proportion claims to view membership as neither good nor bad.

Of all the 15 states only UK had an 'undecided' majority

The UK had the smallest proportion in favor of the single currency and a clear majority of 61% against it

The average for all 15 countries was 33% against almost half that of Britain

Britain's role in the EU is a major issue in contemporary politics, but one that political parties have found difficult to manage

The two main parties have changed their policies on Europe, suffered internal divisions and faced problems exploiting the issue for electoral advantage

The Conservatives and Labor parties seem to have swapped positions on Europe in the last 3 decades

……

We can summarize the "awkward theory" historical arguments in 5 points:

……

Ever since the EEC (now EU) was founded in 1957 it has been a controversial issue in UK politics.

Back in 1957, Britain refused to join the club because it feared losing sovereignty and its world influence with the Commonwealth and the USA.

　　But by the early 1960s many in the UK had come to realize that EU membership was inevitable if the UK was to preserve a role for itself. After two failed attempts to join in 1961 and 1967, the Conservative government of Edward Heath took the UK into the EU in 1973.

This move was opposed by the Labor Party, who, when they returned to office in 1974, proposed a referendum on UK membership.

To avoid splitting the party, the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, took the unusual step of suspending collective responsibility. The British people supported staying in the EU by 67.2% to 32.8%.

As a free marketer, when Mrs. Thatcher came to power in 1979 she was opposed to the further development of political union.

She feared the imposition of the types of policies she had fought to remove from British life: characterized as, "socialism via the back door".

In contrast she actively promoted the Single European Act, which she saw as crucial to complete the European free market that she supported.

However, she strongly opposed any attempts to get the UK to join the single currency and it was this issue that proved to be her downfall.

The issue of European integration was also divisive during John Major's Government (1990-1997).

　ampered by a small majority, he tried to ensure a balance between the pro-European wing of the Conservative Party and the increasingly vocal Eurosceptic wing.

By 1997, the Labor Party had shifted from its 1983 election manifesto promise to leave the EU to stating that the UK would display a more positive approach to the EU.

The UK has attempted to shake off its "awkward partner" tag by signing up to the Social Chapter and also by proposing developments in line with the present government's economic thinking.

But the Labor Government has been reluctant to publicly support Euro membership, preferring to stick to its "wait and see" policy based upon Gordon Brown's Five Economic Tests.

In the 2001 election, William Hague attempted to make opposition to the Euro a central plank of the Conservative Party's campaign.

According to the majority of commentators, the fact this campaign did not succeed shows that whilst Europe is an important issue it is not central to most voters.

This is also borne out by the relative lack of success of the anti-EU Referendum Party in the 1997 election.

　　However it is clear that, although often disguised, divisions exist in all the UK's main political parties between those pro-Europeans who want the UK to become more actively engaged with the EU and those Eurosceptics who want the UK to disengage, some even to the point of withdrawing from the EU completely.

　　These divisions are then compounded by differing ideological views of how the European project should develop. Should it be just an economic club or should the EU involve itself more fully in issues such as social and employment legislation?

How has membership of the EU affected Britain?

Since the Treaty of Accession in 1972, Britain accepted the Treaty of Rome and subsequently the SEA as well as the Maastricht and Amsterdam treaties, and so it can be argued that Britain has accepted a diminution in its legal sovereignty for the following 3 reasons:

　　Laws enacted by the EU are directly applicable to the UK

　　The British Parliament can't pass laws in areas where Community Law already exists、

British courts must accept and enforce decisions made by the ECJ

Quote from Community law: "On the basis of the powers conferred on them the community institutions can act independently of the member states and are binding on the member states and on all their citizens"

David Walker Smith argued that parliamentary sovereignty was incompatible with the Treaty of Accession because it made Community law supreme, over parliamentary statute.

This surrender of sovereignty is not however all embracing.

The Community works according to the principle of the specific attribution of powers. This means that the scope of community competences are limited and vary according to the task at hand e.g.:

There are some areas where there is no Community law

There are areas where community law give general principles but where national governments have latitude as to how the laws are applied

　　However in a book entitled The ABC of Community Law, the author argues that members have pooled certain parts of their legislative powers and placed them in the hands of community institutions, but in return they have substantial rights of participation.

Enoch Powell emphasizes that he feels that sovereignty cannot be pooled.

Enoch Powell went on to say that sovereignty was "the final and absolute authority within the political community." Therefore sovereignty according to Powell was incompatible with membership because community law would take precedent over any parliamentary law.

The New Statesman argued that sovereignty had already been conceded to international business, and thus "to enter into collective social and economic arrangements is to retrieve sovereignty, not to surrender it"

Another argument held by Tony Benn is that EU has not taken sovereignty from Parliament because "in practice political sovereignty has long rested with the executive"

A number of commentators including Thatcher agree that powers have been 'surrendered'to the EU

Enoch Powell argued that sovereignty by its very nature can' be pooled and therefore "ntry into the community was a surrender of sovereignty because for the first time an external body could overrule parliament"

Philip Norton believes that there has been " shift of power within the institutions of the UK"as a result of membership of the EU, which accompanies a shift of power to the institutions of the EU

　　The "U is pushing the British into reforming their constitution"(Alan Davis)

　　(全文请下载)

推荐阅读

【汇总】2016年雅思听力考试回忆及真题解析汇总

【汇总】2016年雅思阅读考试回忆及真题解析汇总

【汇总】2016年雅思写作考试回忆及真题解析汇总

【汇总】2016年雅思口语考试回忆及真题解析汇总

若想获取更多详尽出国留学攻略以及雅思备考资讯，可以打开我们【上海新东方雅思网】，涵盖雅思真题机经，雅思写作、口语、听力、阅读以及留学名校介绍等，也许就能找到你真正需要的。上海新东方雅思网在这里预祝各位考生学习顺利，都能考取自己满意的学校。

上海新东方寒假班报名地址
托福	雅思	GRE	GMAT	SAT
基础班	IELTS 5.5分班	基础班	强化班	基础班
强化班	IELTS 6.5分班	强化班		强化班
精讲精练班	IELTS 7分班	精讲精练班	精讲精练班	精讲精练班
点题班	雅思词汇班	模考班	模考班	模考班
更多	更多	更多	更多	更多