Europe Divisive Issue in British Politics

Europe Divisive Issue in British Politics



Europe Divisive Issue in British Politics

Introduction

Britain's relationship with the European Union has been one of the most divisive issues of domestic British politics over the last 50 years. That pattern looks likely to continue into the foreseeable future, given that federalism has become a political swear-word in certain influential circles in Britain while, in effect the European Union has been working with a federalised system of law since the early 1980s. Treaties like the Maastricht Treaty on European Union have became quasi-constitutional in nature, and subject, therefore, to negotiated revision through intergovernmental conferences (Wallace S H. 2000). In Britain, this luxury of being able to insulate the impact of European 'high politics' from domestic 'low politics' is no longer possible. This is arguably the most problematic dimension of the emerging 'post-sovereign EU state'. The new European order undermines the normal process of political accountability despite the gradually democratising of the European Parliament. A leading paradox is that while governance becomes multi-level, and multidimensional, the elements of democratic representation, party loyalty and core political identity remain deeply rooted in the traditional institutions of the nation state. This is particularly true for Britain, where parliamentary sovereignty remains the only fully legitimate source of sovereignty to important sections of the political class and citizens alike (Peterson S J. 1999).

The sovereignty issue

It is the issue of sovereignty, at once the most maligned and contentious aspect of this process, which brings us to the heart of the debate in Britain. There is a strong belief across the political spectrum that parliamentary sovereignty is a symbol of 'liberty' and 'Britishness'. Yet it is an outdated notion, with the core executive securing most of the de facto sovereignty by the end of the nineteenth century. Significantly British 'sovereignty' is sometimes used interchangeably with British 'independence'(Wallace W. and Smith J.1995). Although both terms are largely symbolic today, the durability of belief in them is extraordinary by modern European standards. As John Peterson has demonstrated, it is an emotive concept with many meanings, including power, authority, influence, independence and individualism, along with a sense of national self-determination. 5 The pooling of national sovereignty necessary to sustain the EU is thus often viewed a zero sum game—with each gain by the EU representing an absolute loss for Britain. For the mass of the population, and the various mainly conservative elites an essentially political one — should Britain sacrifice further economic sovereignty for wealth creation and in so doing lose yet more vital political sovereignty and with it the fundamental core of Britishness (Featherstone K. 1994).

Public opinion and Europe

According to the Eurobarometer polls, majority British public opinion has generally varied from lukewarm to positively hostile over the last decade, holding at around 10% below the European average on the balance between those who see membership as a 'good' rather than a 'bad' thing. While most of the British elite have been generally more favourable to the European project than the ...