Between Two Unions

2021 ◽  
pp. 86-106
Author(s):  
Michael Keating
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
External Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

The devolution settlement of 1999 was introduced during UK membership of the European Union. The EU provided an external support system for it. Ideas of shared and divided sovereignty, on which the EU is (for many) based, complement similar interpretations of the United Kingdom as a union rather than a nation state. Like the UK, the EU has no fixed demos, telos, ethos or agreed locus of sovereignty; these are, rather, contested. The EU also provided for market integration through the internal market, obviating the need for internal market provisions in the devolution settlement. EU membership for both the UK and Ireland meant that the physical border could be dismantled. UK withdrawal from the EU therefore destabilizes the settlement, especially given the Remain majorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland. This has revived demands for Scottish independence and Irish reunification. There is a protocol allowing Northern Ireland to remain within the regulatory ambit of both the UK and the EU. A demand for similar provisions for Scotland was refused.

EU-UK deal allows Cameron to campaign against Brexit

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
David Cameron ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Subject The package of reforms on a new EU-UK relationship. Significance The agreement between the United Kingdom and its EU partners sets the stage for the UK referendum on EU membership, which Prime Minister David Cameron has set for June 23. Cameron said he had negotiated new terms that would allow the United Kingdom to remain in the EU. Impacts The deal bolsters the campaign to remain in the EU, but the referendum outcome is still highly uncertain. The deal will only come into effect if the outcome is for remaining, forestalling a second referendum for better terms. If the outcome is for leaving, a new relationship with the EU would have to be negotiated during a two-year transition period. It would also probably lead to a second Scottish independence referendum and UK break-up.

scholarly journals Wightman et al. v. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-805
Author(s):  
Danae Azaria
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Member State ◽  
European Council ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Eu

The CJEU held that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is allowed to unilaterally revoke the notification of its intention to withdraw from the European Union (EU) as long as the revocation is submitted in writing to the European Council before the UK's withdrawal takes effect, and as long as the revocation is “unequivocal and unconditional, that is to say that the purpose of that revocation is to confirm the EU membership of the member state concerned under terms that are unchanged as regards its status as a member state, and that revocation brings the withdrawal procedure to an end” (para. 74).

scholarly journals Potencjalny wpływ brexitu na ustrój terytorialny i integralność Zjednoczonego Królestwa Wielkiej Brytanii i Irlandii Północnej

2020 ◽  
Vol 6(161) ◽  
pp. 117-143
Author(s):  
Viktoria Serzhanova ◽  
Adrianna Kimla
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
New Order ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union is undoubtedly an unprecedented event in the history of the EU. This process encounters many difficulties and reveals an increasing number of problems that contemporary Europe is facing and affects European integration. Even more complications in this area arise as a result of the deadlock in the internal dimension, and in the UK’s relations with the EU. It goes without saying, that this process will result in the need to create a completely new order in the UK’s relations with the EU and will have a huge impact on the global order. The whole process is multidimensional, hence the consequences of leaving the EU by the United Kingdom may have many effects for the UK not only in political and economic sense, but also in the field of its constitutional law and political system, including the area of the state’s territorial arrangement. The purpose of this study is to provide a legal analysis of Brexit’s potential consequences for the territorial system and threats to the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom itself, in particular for the status of its constituent parts and further relations between England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. The risk of the split and disintegration of the United Kingdom as a result of Brexit cannot be overlooked.

scholarly journals RUSSIA IN THE DISCOURSE OF BREXETEERS AND BREMAINERS IN THE UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-444
Author(s):  
E.V. Ananieva
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Government ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

The UK EU membership referendum (2016) brought a confused result not giving the Brexiteers or the Bremainers decisive preponderance. This led to sharp divisions in the society at large, and a prolonged political crisis in Britain. Bremainers as early as at the stage of the pre-referendum campaign accused Brexiteers of being under the influence of Russia, meddling on the part of Brexit. The Bremainers initiated a series of inquiries into Russian interference to discredit the Brexiteers, putting under question the results of the referendum and the mandate of the UK government to conduct negotiations with Brussels. This confrontation went through lines of interparty divisions, and its methods went beyond the traditions and unwritten rules of the United Kingdom's political culture. The vicissitudes of inter- and intra-party infighting around the Parliamentary Intelligence and Defence Committee's report “Russia” showed that the government feared the report would influence voters in the run-up to the 2019 early general election. The investigation found no evidence of Russian interference in the referendum, nor in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum or the 2017 and 2019 parliamentary elections. Nevertheless, the “Russia” report became the basis for mutual accusations of the parties in the 2019 election campaign. London's focus on the concept of "Global Britain" indicates that the United Kingdom, regardless of the outcome of negotiations with the EU, views Russia as a strategic adversary.

scholarly journals Introduction: UK's Membership of the EU: Brexit and the Gains, Losses and Dilemmas for Social Policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ania Plomien
Keyword(s):  
Narrow Range ◽  
Majority Vote ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Eu

The United Kingdom has a long history of a fraught relationship with the European Union, a discomfort demonstrated in the 23 June 2016 referendum on the membership of the EU, in which the UK voted to leave with nearly 52 per cent majority vote. Among the key concerns underlying UK's unease with EU are the interrelated areas of the economy, polity, and society. However, public debate surrounding the event focused on a relatively narrow range of issues. The two official campaigns representing the choice in the referendum, ‘Vote Leave, take control’ and ‘Britain Stronger in Europe’, were marshalled either to support Eurosceptic feelings or to emphasise the benefits of access to the Single Market. Commonplace convictions that the EU is responsible for that which is negative, inconvenient, or difficult to explain circulated alongside (though less frequently than) the recognition of the economic privileges and opportunities that come from EU membership. The political, economic and social concerns were encapsulated in themes of taking power back from Brussels, redirecting resources from the UK's contributions to the EU budget towards nationally determined projects (most famously allocating £350 million a week for the National Health Service), and effective border control to significantly curb migration. Contradictory claims about the EU and the UK's affiliation with it were further complicated by the fact that divisions over the support for or opposition to Britain's withdrawal spanned the whole political spectrum.

The Scottish Independence Referendum in an International Context

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 259-288
Author(s):  
Jure Vidmar
Keyword(s):  
Prima Facie ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Independent State ◽  
International Context ◽  
Minimum Requirement ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Eu

Summary There are no universally applicable procedural standards under international law for independence referenda. However, in contemporary comparative practice, a minimum requirement has emerged for clarity of both the winning majority and the referendum question. This article demonstrates that Scotland could become an independent state with the lowest popular support in recent international practice, yet this outcome would not compromise the legitimacy of the vote. Even the referendum question is an exemplar of textual clarity. However, the possibility of a referendum on the United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the European Union (EU) complicates the matter. The author argues that, with independence, Scotland would, prima facie, also exit the EU, unless negotiated otherwise. However, with a potential referendum on the UK’s EU membership on the horizon, Scots do not know whether a vote to remain within the UK is also a vote to remain within the EU. Given the complexity and significance of the EU legal order, Scots have a right to know whether, at least in the near future, the alternative to independence is the UK within or outside the EU. If the two referenda fall too close to each other, the clarity of the Scottish independence referendum could be unduly compromised.

The EU because of Brexit

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-58
Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Electoral Outcome ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Financial Framework ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Institutional Challenges ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the European Union because of Brexit, focusing on a number of transitional problems that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU—and its delay owing to subsequent requests to extend EU membership for extra time—posed for the EU’s functioning and funding. In particular, it emphasizes the consequences of Brexit for the composition of the 9th European Parliament (2019–2024), and its elections in May of 2019. It explains how the participation of the UK in this democratic process had pro tempore effects on both the EP outlook and its electoral outcome. The chapter also considers the transitional institutional challenges faced because of Brexit by both the European Commission and the Council of the EU. It highlights the implications of Brexit for the EU’s multi-annual financial framework (MFF), stressing how the UK’s withdrawal created a budget gap for the EU, attributable to the way the EU is funded, and how this would create challenges in the next MFF negotiations—as indeed happened.

The Law & Politics of Brexit: Volume II

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Financial Settlement ◽  
The Eu

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the withdrawal agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and the European Union to create the legal framework for Brexit. Building on a prior volume, it overviews the process of Brexit negotiations that took place between the UK and the EU from 2017 to 2019. It also examines the key provisions of the Brexit deal, including the protection of citizens’ rights, the Irish border, and the financial settlement. Moreover, the book assesses the governance provisions on transition, decision-making and adjudication, and the prospects for future EU–UK trade relations. Finally, it reflects on the longer-term challenges that the implementation of the 2016 Brexit referendum poses for the UK territorial system, for British–Irish relations, as well as for the future of the EU beyond Brexit.

scholarly journals Brexit and Territorial Preferences: Evidence from Scotland and Northern Ireland

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-211
Author(s):  
Lesley-Ann Daniels ◽  
Alexander Kuo
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Religious Background ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Has the UK referendum to leave the EU (Brexit) affected territorial preferences within the UK? We draw on comparative theories of such preferences to address this question, as Brexit can be seen as a shock to a political unit. We test hypotheses in two key regions, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with original surveys fielded at a unique time (September 2019). We randomize making salient different Brexit scenarios and measure support for Scottish independence and unification with Ireland within each region. We find in Scotland the prospect of leaving the EU increases support for independence. This effect is pronounced among those who support the UK remaining in the EU. In Northern Ireland, religious background correlates highly with territorial views, and we find little evidence of Brexit or border-scenario effects. Our results contribute to the literature on decentralization processes and the EU, and provide evidence of when negative shocks affect such preferences.

Implications of Brexit for Skilled Migration from India to the UK

2021 ◽  
pp. 001573252110122
Author(s):  
Rupa Chanda ◽  
Neha Vinod Betai
Keyword(s):  
Transition Period ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
East European ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Take Back ◽  
The Uk ◽  
European Economies ◽  
The Eu

In June 2016, the United Kingdom took the world by surprise with the results of its referendum on whether to remain in the European Union (EU). With a 52% majority, the country decided to leave the bloc in which it had been a member since 1973. With this outcome began the long process of Brexit negotiations between UK and the EU. The UK officially ceased to be an EU member on 31 January 2020, with a transition period up to the end of 2020. The decision to leave the EU came on the back of rising bitterness among people. Membership in the EU was seen as expensive and not beneficial to the country. One of the major campaigning points of the leave camp was the issue of immigration. Given that free movement of people is an important part of being in the EU, the party argued that leaving the EU would help the country take back control of its borders. Immigration in the UK has been on the rise since the early 2000s. It shot up further with the accession of the eight East European economies into the EU. Figure 1 shows how, leading up to Brexit, immigration from the EU to the UK was constantly increasing. JEL Codes: F00, F30, F22, F23

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