Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny CommitteePublisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215555786
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 44
Book Description
This report was produced online to coincide with the second reading of the European Union Bill (Bill 106, session 2010-11, ISBN 9780215557339) on 7 December 2010. The Committee is critical that it had been given only four weeks to investigate and prepare a report on the Bill's provision affirming the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty. This report sets out in detail the legal relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union and the current debate on the scope of Parliamentary sovereignty, then evaluates the sovereignty clause (clause 18) in the light of evidence received. The evidence suggests that the legislative supremacy of Parliament is not currently under threat from EU law. However, the Committee believes recent UK court decisions have called into question the legal basis of Parliamentary sovereignty and the legislative supremacy of Parliament. It concludes that Clause 18 is a reaffirmation of the role of a sovereign Parliament in a dualist state, nothing more, nothing less. It does not address the competing primacies of EU and national law and much evidence suggests the clause is not needed. The Bill's proposal that approval to certain changes in EU law will require first to be approved by an Act of Parliament and that the change should be approved by a referendum is also considered. This "referendum lock" is viewed as an attempt to bind future Parliaments, but the Committee concludes there is no clear evidence that one Parliament has authority to act in this way.
