How Did The European Union Influence Parliamentary Sovereignty

The European Union (EU) is an international organisation which originates from the European Economic Community and consists of twenty-eight member states. The United Kingdom (UK) became part of the European Community (now EU) in 1973 and this essay explains how and why this decision impacted on the UK, mostly focusing on how it influenced Parliamentary sovereignty, how the Single Market impacted on economy and trade, and the importance of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

European sources of law are divided into two components, primary and secondary. Primary sources are predominately treaties, such as the Treaty of Rome (ToR), the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Secondary sources include regulations and directives. Regulations become law in all member states the moment they come into force by overriding any domestic provisions. Directives require members to meet certain results, however leaving them the choice and methods as to how to achieve them. They also need implementation into national law by a state's legislative body before taking effect.

Where an Act of Parliament is incompatible with the requirements of European law, it must be declared invalid and ineffective to the extent of that incompatibility. The doctrine of supremacy entails that if there is a

Therefore the British parliament has enacted the legislation to reflect this and hence be in line with the directives of the EU. It entailed the removal of any unfair treatment in regard to employment opportunities. The free flow of labour was to enable movement of investment such as purchase of the property or shares among the member states. Another example is preventing unlawful restrictions on imports of certain goods, discriminatory taxation on wine and the requirement to fit tachographs to