British Government and Politics
(JN302)
The European Union (EU) and
International Relations
Lecture Outline
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1. History of Britain and the EU
2. European Commission
3. European Parliament
4. Council of Ministers (Council of the European Union)
5. European Court of Justice
6. European Council
7. The Euro
8. The Council of Europe
9. Current Issues
History of Britain and the EU
 1951 – Treaty of Paris – Creation of European Coal and
Steel Community (ECSC)
 1957 – Treaties of Rome – Creation of European
Economic Community (EEC)
 1960s – De Gaulle rebuffs Britain’s application (1963,
1967)
 1973 – Britain (+Den, Ire) members of EEC
 1992 – Maastricht Treaty – deepening of political
union, naming of European Union (EU).
History of Britain and the EU
 1997 – Amsterdam Treaty – consumer and
environmental protection, Charter on Fundamental
Workers’ Rights.
 2009 – Lisbon Treaty – followed abandoned ‘EU
Constitution’. Gave EU ability to sign international
treaties, extended role of directly elected European
Parliament.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6901353.stm
History of Britain and the EU
 1975 – 67% of voters supported
the Wilson Labour
government’s referendum on
Europe. Division within parties
over free trade. Thatcher yes
supporter in the 1975
referendum (supported single
market) but then opposed
giving up Sterling and giving
greater political powers to the
EU.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=U2f8nYMCO2I
European Commission
 Executive government and civil service of EU.
 Based in Brussels.
 28 commissioners appointed (not elected) by
member nations but supposed to represent pan
European interests.
 Primary institution responsible for initiating policy.
 Perceived lack of accountability referred to as a
‘democratic deficit’.
European Commission
 Commission issues:
 Regulations – similar to British primary legislation, once
passed apply to all member states
 Directives – broader ‘end results’ and up to states how it is
implemented
 Decisions – binding laws on groups or authorities in a
particular state (similar to private bills)
 Regulations and directives scrutinized by European
Parliament and Council of Ministers before they can be
enacted.
European Commission
 Current President of
European Commission is
Jean-Claude Juncker
(former PM of
Luxembourg).
 Juncker’s appointment was
resisted by David Cameron.
 http://www.theguardian.co
m/world/2014/jul/15/jeanclaude-juncker-europeancommission-president1
European Commission
 Lord Hill is the UK’s new
EU Commissioner for
Financial Services.
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/ne
ws/world-europe29518722
European Parliament
 Since 1979 fully elected body (proportional
representation based on party list system).
 Current membership of 751.
 Meets 3 weeks in Brussels and a week in Strasbourg.
 72 British MEPs, including UKIP’s Nigel Farage.
 UK divided into 12 European electoral regions.
European Parliament
 MEPs sit in chamber according to political affiliation.
Seven main groups. Conservatives pulled out of
European People’s Party (EPP) to take part in
eurosceptic alliance of European Conservatives and
Reformists (ECR).
 Once regarded as a talking shop but it now has ‘joint’
legislative powers with the Council of Ministers and
assesses Commission proposals.
European Parliament
 Martin Schulz – President of
EP
 http://www.europarl.europa
.eu/news/en/newsroom/content/20140630IPR
51020/html/Martin-Schulz-reelected-President-of-theEuropean-Parliament
Council of Ministers
 Most powerful EU institution.
 Comprises of departmental ministers from each of
the 28 member states.
 Composition varies according to issue being debated.
 10 broad policy areas including Economic and
Financial Affairs, Environment, and Justice and Home
Affairs.
 Commission proposes policy ideas but Council makes
them law.
European Court of Justice
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Europe’s supreme legal institution.
28 members – one judge per member state.
14 judges hear a case at any one time.
Based in Luxembourg City.
Areas of EU law covered are: free trade, employment
law, competition law and public sector regulation.
European Council
 Composed of the heads of state or government of all 28
member states.
 Meets up to four times a year.
 It has no legislative power but a member state can
complain formally to the Council if it disagrees with a
Council of Ministers decision.
 Job of mapping overall future strategic direction of the EU.
 Current President is former Polish PM Donald Tusk.
 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/31/davidcameron-donald-tust-european-council
The Euro
 Officially came into being in 2002.
 Preceded by the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1979
which fixed the range or margins within which member
states’ currencies could fluctuate (measured by the
European Currency Unit (ecu) and also by later
developments in the Maastricht Treaty.
 Britain signed up to the ERM in 1990 but pulled out on 16
September 1992 (‘Black Wednesday’) after speculators
forced Chancellor Lamont to first raise interest rates and
then when pound continued to fall he froze interest rates
and withdrew from the ERM.
The Council of Europe
 Often mistakenly considered part of the EU, the
Council of Europe works to establish common legal
standards and human rights across its 47 member
states.
 It houses the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg and it implemented and upholds the
European Convention on Human Rights.
 http://hub.coe.int
The Council of Europe
 The Convention “secures, first and foremost, the right
to life, a fair trial, freedom of expression, thought,
conscience and religion, but also respect for private
and family life and the protection of property. It
prohibits torture, degrading treatment, forced labour,
unlawful detention and discrimination ‘in the
enjoyment of the rights and freedoms it guarantees’”
(Henley 2014).
Current Issues
 Cameron has pledged a referendum on British
membership of the EU by the end of 2017 if he is reelected. Cameron has stated he wants to stay in EU
but argues it requires reforms on issues such as
clawing back of EU powers in environment, social
affairs and crime, fewer EU commissioners, and
repeal of the current working hours directive.
Current Issues
 Cameron has in recent years got the UK out of the bail out
of Euro zone countries, he vetoed UK membership of a
fiscal treaty, and was involved in cutting the EU budget.
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18343164
 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/09/davidcameron-blocks-eu-treaty
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/9
856716/Victory-for-David-Cameron-as-EU-budget-facescuts-for-first-time-in-history.html
Current Issues
 UK calls for restrictions on free movement of EU
immigrants following lifting of restrictions on
Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants. The UK imposed
7-year restrictions on free flow of Bulgarian and
Romanian immigrants when they joined EU in 2007.
 http://www.theguardian.com/uknews/2013/dec/30/tory-activists-call-restrictionsromanians-bulgarians
 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/12/bruss
els-slaps-down-threats-immigration
Current Issues
 Home Secretary Theresa May has said the next
Conservative Party’s manifesto will scrap the
European Human Rights Act.
 The European Court of Human Rights initially refused
to allow the deportation to Jordan of Abu Qatada.
 http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/dec/22/britaineuropean-court-human-rights
Current Issues
 General debates and public opinion on British
membership of EU:
 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/18/eubritain-in-out-eu-referendum
 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/24/trusteu-falls-record-low
 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/30/shoc
k-poll-reveals-gulf-britain-eu-france-germany-polandhostile
Current Issues
 Greece debt refinancing
negotiations.
 https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=B_gcYRJ6sHk