Research Briefing
How does Parliament deal with EU Treaty amendments? Is primary legislation needed to implement them? This briefing looks at the parliamentary process of bills linked to the ratification of EU Treaty amendments and compares the amount of time spent on the major EU Treaties since the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973.
Research Briefing
Prime Minister David Cameron would like to reform the EU and renegotiate the UK’s relationship with it, before holding an in/out referendum in 2017 if a Conservative government is elected in May 2015. The UK’s new relationship with the EU would be put to the electorate, who would decide whether the UK should remain in the EU under new terms or be the first Member State to leave the EU. This Note looks at what the Government is doing to tackle some of the perceived weaknesses of EU policy and procedures and looks at prospects for future reform.
Research Briefing
What has the Council of Europe done about Russia's poor human rights record or the alleged Russian action in Ukraine?
Research Briefing
How much UK law implements EU obligations? This is virtually impossible to answer accurately, but approximate calculations can be made using law databases.
Research Briefing
What has happended in the European Economic Community since the UK joined in 1973?
Research Briefing
Many argue that the EU is a far cry from what the UK signed up to in 1973. This note looks at the major Treaty changes since the UK joined the EEC in 1973.
Research Briefing
This note looks briefly at the Brighton reform conference in 2012 and reforms implemented before and since. It considers two of the reforms in Protocol 15 that the UK Government particularly wanted, in the light of the European Court of Human Rights judgments in Hirst and Abu Qatada, concerning subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation.
Research Briefing
The UK Government would like to opt back into 35 measures in the area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters adopted before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, but will the other EU Member States agree unanimously on this? Will the Government manage to get approval for the draft regulations published on 6 November which complete the transposition of 11 of the 35 opt-back-ins?
Research Briefing
One of the issues which arises frequently when there is a dispute between the Government and the European Court of Human Rights is the effect of Parliamentary Sovereignty. This is retained in the domestic sphere, since the Human Rights Act 1998 does not grant the UK Courts the power to strike down primary legislation made
Research Briefing
EU law becomes part of UK law by means of primary or secondary legislation (Act of Parliament, Order or Statutory Instrument) or by administrative rules. This note looks at the procedures for transposing EU law in the UK.
Research Briefing
This Private Member’s Bill was introduced to the Commons on 2 July 2014 and requires the holding of a referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the European Union (EU) before the end of 2017. This Paper has been prepared as a guide in advance of the second reading on Friday 17 October.
Research Briefing
The EU has just appointed four new institutional leaders: the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Council and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This Note looks at the background to the four recent appointments.
Research Briefing
A report is doing the rounds via Twitter and various blogs (e.g. Inquiringminds and pjcjournal) about changes in the European Union in November 2014 that will mean the end of British sovereignty. They also claim that the Prime Minister’s promise to hold an in/out referendum by 2017 is spurious because it would be “illegal” under
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