Impact of the EU on UK politics

🇪🇺-🇬🇧 bespoke relationship

• Was allowed to opt out of some rules

5 elements of 🇪🇺 that 🇬🇧 had a different agreement for

1. Schengen Agreement, because we’re an island

2. Economic and Monetary Union, although Blair wanted it it was politically unpopular

3. Area of Freedom, Justice and Security, only participated in some areas

4. Charter of Fundamental Rights, opted out so 🇪🇺 courts couldn’t overturn 🇬🇧 statutes

5. Contribution to budget reduced by 66%

Factortame Case

• Confirmed that 🇪🇺 law took precendence over 🇬🇧 law because Plmt chose to pass European Communities Act (1972) which gave 🇪🇺 law precedence over 🇬🇧 law

1990-2010 — number of laws passed in 🇬🇧 as a result of 🇪🇺 directives/regulations

50,000

Common fisheries policy (CFP)

• Regulated fishing, market, minimum prices and trade of fish

4 CFP mechanisms

1. Total allowable catch — quota for each 🇪🇺 country

2. Fishing controls — records and barring some areas from being fished in (exclusive national fishing grounds = w/in 12 miles of coast)

3. Onshore support

4. Producer organisations working together

3 negative impacts of CFP on 🇬🇧

1. Of 6m tonnes of fish caught in 🇪🇺, 700,000 were caught in 🇬🇧

2. Fish central to 🇬🇧 economy only pass through 🇬🇧 waters (mackerel) so cannot consistently be fished

3. Cod spawn along 🇬🇧-🇳🇴 water borders so can’t give 🇬🇧 quota on them despite them being key to 🇬🇧 fishing economy

4 positive impacts of CFP

1. Popular fish would have been fished to extinction without quotas

2. Lots of fish not covered by CFP and were managed independently in Britain

3. Quota system was independently managed and not a political tool

4. 🇬🇧 fishing industry only 0.5% of GDP so a small price to pay for other benefits

Common agricultural policy (CAP 🧢)

• Regulation of agriculture

• EU bought surplus stock from EU farmers to ensure a consistent food supply

  • Raised food waste concerns (‘butter mountain’)

• Protected farmers from being undercut by cheaper products

3 positive impacts of 🧢

1. British farmers received £3bn/year subsidies while only contributing 0.7% of GDP

2. 🇬🇧 has more large farms which benefit more from subsidies

3. EU spent €4.6bn on developing 🇬🇧 agricultural industry 2007-2013

4 negative impacts of 🧢

1. Britain couldn’t support fair trade with developing countries

2. UK got less from 🧢 than contributed — was 43% of 🇪🇺 spending and 🇬🇧 is 8th largest contributor

3. Food was more expensive for consumers due to protectionism

4. Encouraged environmentally damaging farming practices (pesticides)

Working Time Directive

• Regulates number of hours that 🇪🇺 workers can work + holidays and rest breaks to protect them

3 negative impacts of WTD on 🇬🇧

1. Struggled to move away from on-call system for junior doctors so crisis in number of them available

2. Lower pay as couldn’t rely on overtime

3. Forced to join after losing 1998 ECJ case

2 positive impacts of WTD

1. Increased numbers of jobs as employers worked to prevent employees working beyond 48h

2. Could opt of out bits, e.g. 48h is not compulsory

Social capter

• Protected worker’s rights and ensured a certain quality of life

  • Introduced max hours/week, breaks, holiday/sick/parental leave pay

3 impacts of social capter

• UK had an opt-out so did that for different areas but the cost of complying with regulations had severe effects on the UK

1. Made Britain less internationally competitive

2. Meant factories and jobs have gone to places where employment is cheaper

3. Highlights cultural difference between UK and other member states

• UK: free market capitalism, small role for state

• Other states: larger role for the state regarding employment

Immigration policy

• EU maintains that citizens from other EU states are equal in whichever EU state they’re in

  • UK resisted this and blocked freemovement from new member states (Bulgaria and Romania) due to healthcare tourism

1 negative impact of EU immigration policy on 🇬🇧

• Eastern European families settling in the UK meant UK schools had to adapt to a more multilingual and multicultural way of teaching, which was resented by the UK public

3 positive impacts of EU immigration policy on 🇬🇧

1. Tax revenue from EU citizens MASSIVELY > costs from EU welfare recipients

2. EU citizens living in the UK were more likely to contribute to the British economy and less likely to claim benefits

3. Allowed UK citizens to retire to Europe, France and Spain being big ones