used to consist of 28 states - now consists of 27 after BREXIT.

different EU institutions are responsible for executive (govt), legislative (making laws) and judicial (interpreting and applying the law) actions.

the EU's aim includes peace, removing internal borders and achieving freedom and economic growth while promoting different cultures and languages.

the EU has always played a significant role in UK politics both before and after the referendum.

supranational body: an organisation that exists separately from national govts. In the case of the EU, national govts agree to give power to its supranational bodies and to accept their decisions.

intergovernmental body: an organisation made up of members of different national govts.

SIGNIFICANCE:

• supranational body.
• 27 commissioners, one from each EU country.
• commissioners are not directly elected - national govts nominate commissioners and the European Council nominates the President of the commission. Nominees are confirmed by the European Parliament.

SIGNIFICANCE:

• intergovernmental body.
• govt ministers from each of the member nations attend and make decisions together.
• ten different types of meetings - attended by the appropriate ministers - e.g., finance ministers being at the meeting on economic aid and financial affairs.

SIGNIFICANCE:

• intergovernmental body.
• heads of govt (or state) for all EU nations meet 4 times a year.

SIGNIFICANCE:

• the EU's only directly elected body.
• 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEP).
• Each EU nation is allocated a number of seats in the European Parliament that reflects its size - e.g., Germany has 96 and Cyprus has 6.

both the democratically elected European Parliament and the democratically elected national govts have a direct role in the legislative process.

the European Council is responsible for big strategic decisions (like change to a treaty or a major shift in policy direction) but only meets a few times a year.

more routine decision making is carried out by the European Commission and the Council of the European Union along with the European Parliament when changes to legislation are required.

the Court of Justice stands along as the EU's independent judiciary.

✅ member nations of the EU have not fought each other since WWII.
✅ rising living standards and economic growth have coincided with the EU's existence.
✅ democracy and the rule of law operate in EU countries.

❌ the EU faces new threats from an increasingly aggressive Russia, an unstable middle east and home grown terrorism.
❌ the rise of populist anti-EU parties over the last decade shows the frustration felt by citizens who feel the EU has not enriched their lives.
❌ the EU has been criticised for having a democratic deficit - the idea that the EU is not sufficiently democratic because most of its institutions re not directly elected.

✅ all EU countries are part of the single market, in which the four freedoms apply - within the EU single market, these are the free movement of goods, services, people and capital.
✅ 22 of the 28 EU member states are members of an area in which there are no border controls between countries - the SCHENGEN AREA.
✅ EU countries work together on policing and anti-terrorism including using the European Arrest Warrant to arrest criminals across the EU.

❌ not all countries are in the Schengen Areas - like the UK and N. Ireland.
❌ In event of a security threat, border checks can be reimposed by countries in the Schengen Area - like France after the 2015 Paris terror attacks.
❌ since the 2015 migration crisis, border controls have been reintroduced by states including Austria and Denmark, to stop migrants from the Middle East and Africa arriving via other countries in the area.

❌ the 2008 economic crisis damaged the economies of EU nations.
❌ unemployment rose dramatically in some EU countries (20.9% in Greece in Jan 2018) and the overall unemployment rate is higher in the EU than in the USA.

❌ the migration crisis exposed some of the prejudice within EU countries, demonstrated by attacks on refugee housing.
❌ in May 2018 the right-wing govt in Hungary announced legislation to restrict help for asylum seekers.

❌ EU countries invest in less research and development than their main competitors - the US and China.
❌ the USA is more effective at turning research and new technology into work-leading businesses.

❌ Brexit shows limitations of EU solidarity as UK left.
❌ strong anti-eu voices in other countries have made calls to leave also.
❌ the EU's goal or 'ever-closer union' has been criticised by leaders in some countries - like Italy and the Netherlands.
❌ the single market has been criticised.
❌ after the EU enlarged in 2004 to include 10 new states, high levels of migration from eastern European countries to the UK led to calls for an end to freedom of movement.
❌ despite being given more than £245 mill than it pays in each year form the EU, Wales voted to leave.
❌ socioeconomic inequality is growing in the EU.

❌ the EU has been criticised for its large expenditure on translation services.
❌ the EU's goal that every citizen should speak 2 languages in addition to their mother tongue had been achieved by only 25% of people in 2014.
❌ a number of EU countries introduced a ban on face-coverings worn by some Muslim women - France in 2010 and Denmark in 2018.

❌ the EU's second biggest economy - the UK - chose not to join the Euro.
❌ the 2008 economic crisis exposed the problems caused by a range of very different economies sharing the same currency.
❌ this led to a long period of recession and forced austerity in countries like Greece, which fuelled the rise of populist anti-eu parties.

• the UK joined the EEC in 1973, 15 years after its formation.
• in addition to joining late, UK politicians remained divided over membership.
• in 1975, Labour held a referendum with the result that the UK stayed in.
• in 1981, the Labour party committed to leave the EEC if it won the general election - it didnt - and it prompted four high profile members to leave Labour and form the SDP which later merged with the Liberals to become the LibDems in 1988.
• the impact of EU membership on the UK compared to other EU countries was reduced in 1981 as the UK govts negotiated an EU budget rebate and a selection of opt-outs from EU policies and treaties.

• John Major's govt (1990-97) was plagued with rebellions carried out by eurosceptic MPs.
• Tony Blair was a europhile, but eurosceptics and philes existed in both parties. the UK lacked the degree of consensus on the issue that could be found in most other EU countries.
• Blair authorised the 2004 EU expansion but the following high level of immigration from Eastern Europe was criticised by the right wing press.
• UKIP was first founded in the 1990s but grew significantly under the leadership of Farage, who criticised mass immigration, the democratic deficit and the bureaucracy of the EU.
• 2014 - UKIP won the UK elections to the European Parliament which pushed the Conservatives into 3rd place.

a proposition included in the Conservative's 2015 general election manifesto to prevent UKIP from taking Conservative votes.
Cameron was therefore committed to holding a referendum when the party won.

there were divisions within both party's.
CONS: remain = Cameron; leave = Johnson + Gove.
In Labour, the MPs were predominantly main but the party struggled to come to a true consensus.
LibDem and the SNP both supported remain,

most economists and business leaders agreed that leaving the EU would damage the UK.

the leave campaign was criticised for misleading claims about the impact of Brexit on the UKs finances.

the remain campaign focused on highlighting the economic risks of Brexit as opposed to addressing the concerns of voters and identifying the benefits of EU membership.

the final result - 52% leave and 48% remain - came as a shock to many and highlighted the divisions across the UK in terms of age, social class, education and geography.

in July 2018, Johnson and Davis resigned from cabinet as they felt unable to accept collective responsibility for the govts proposed Brexit deal.

the Brexit negotiations became the top item on the political agenda. they overshadowed all other political initiatives in parliament and dominated govt activity.

the referendum result was a challenge to parliamentary sovereignty as the majority of MPs were remainers but the nation had voted to leave.

the govt hadnt wanted to ask parliament to vote on article 50, but the supreme court ruled it must in order to clarify parliament as sovereign regardless of the referendum result. --> the majority of MPs ignored their own views and voted to trigger it showing the importance of popular sovereignty in british politics.

since Brexit - the SNP have made several calls for a second independence referendum.

the issues Brexit has caused in N. Ireland were not regarded by the English govt or people.

the difficulty of negotiating a deal for the UK was an incredibly challenging process and saw the UK go through 3 different PMs - Cameron, May and Johnson.

• the UK had considered joining the euro under New Labour, but decided against this in 2003. This allowed the UK to retain its own economic policy which protected it from some of the problems the Eurozone faced after the 2008 recession.

• the Common Agricultural Policy provides EU subsidies for all EU farmers.
• this has prevented the UK from developing its own policies, which might suit its needs better. Under CAP many wealthy landowners receive funding - the system has also been criticised for promoting farming that damages the environment.

• the Common Fisheries Policy has prevented the UK from protecting its fishing industry from competition. All EU fishers have access to British waters, which has damaged British fishing.

• EU environmental laws forced UK govts to introduce more environmentally friendly policies, leading to lower levels of air and water pollution and the protection of species and habitats.

• Eu social policy has led to increased rights for UK workers - e.g. paid holidays.
• EU laws ad initiatives to promote gender equality have had a big impact on UK policy - incl shared parental leave, the outlawing of gender pay discrimination and maternity discrimination, and funding for gender equality and anti-violence against women work.

• EU membership has allowed the UK to develop coordinated policing and security strategy with other members.
• the UK has benefitted from membership of Europol and from the use of the European Arrest Warrant.
• the govt was keen to continue with these arrangements after Brexit.

• freedom of movement prevented UK govts from restricting immigration from EU countries: before the 2016 referendum, net migration to the UK from EU countries was around 190,000.
• since 2010, the Conservatives have promised to cut net migration and although this pledge was popular with voters, it was impossible to achieve as long as the UK remained in the EU.
• Brexit has given UK govts more freedom to introduce immigration controls - although some argue that immigration is good for the economy.

since Brexit, the UK has needed to develop independent policies in regard to each policy area. at the time of leaving, many remainers feared the environmental and social benefits of the EU will erode. Brexiteers argue that there is no reason Britain cannot pursue similar policies alone.
in the longer term it is likely that unique policies will be developed that will differ significantly from the EU but initially the UK promised to maintain many of the same funding commitments - like CAP.