Sovereignty: What does the future hold for the EU & the UK? Guillermo Alonso New Political Minds PPR Department, Lancaster University

Sovereignty and its Challenges Index Part 1 Sovereignty and its Challenges Definitions and History Implications and Discussion Challenges to Sovereignty in the Contemporary World Part 2 Brexit and the Future of Sovereignty Sovereignty in the UK and in EU Problematising Brexit The Future?

Part 1: Sovereignty and its Challenges Keep these questions in mind as we go along… Q1: ‘What is sovereignty?’ Q2: ‘How important is sovereignty in politics?’ Q3: ‘What are the limits of sovereignty?’ Q4: ‘What is the meaning of sovereignty in the 21st century?’

Conceptualisations of Sovereignty Weber, 1919: ‘monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory’ Hobbes, 1651: the Leviathan Schmitt, 1932: ‘Sovereign is he who decides upon the exception’ Agamben, 1995: the Camp & Homo sacer (Guantanamo Bay) Baylis et al, 2017: ‘the rightful entitlement to exclusive, unqualified, and supreme rule within a delimited territory’ – Effective control

The modern Nation-state State ≠ government - the apparatus vs those who control it Peace Treaties of Westphalia and Osnabruck (1648): established the legal basis of the modern statehood and of the modern international system Montevideo Convention (1934) Article 1: ‘The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.’ UN Charter, Article 2: UN is based on the principle of sovereign equality, non-intervention as fundamental to sovereignty

Domestic challenges to sovereignty How is sovereignty justified and legitimised? Sovereignty in fragile states? Sovereignty in democracies? (Checks and balances, different governance levels) Where does sovereignty lie? The state vs the people If the former, does it justify authoritarianism? If the latter, does it justify secessionism?

Globalisation Economic: Trade, finance, TNCs, supply/production chains Social/Cultural: Migration, social media, music, TV Security: Global arms trade, international terrorism, proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Global issues: Environmental sustainability, Human Rights Violations, Pandemics From international politics to global politics?

Can there be sovereignty above the state? Sovereignty in International and Supranational Organisations? Pros of joining: Increased capacity to achieve states’ interests (UN & diplomacy and multilateralism, EU & economic and security communities) Cons of joining: Loss of control over institutions, further constraints on sovereignty (IMF, WB & SAPs, EU & Austerity) A trade-off: Shared & Pooled Sovereignty – is it worth it?

Supranational challenges to sovereignty Globalisation & Interdependence Sovereignty in supranational & international organisations? Wallerstein: Sovereignty and recognition by external actors? What type of relations justify statehood and therefore sovereignty? De facto and De jure sovereignty (Kosovo, UNPO) Is intervention ever justified? Traditional Security vs Human Security (Rwanda)

DEBATE: What is the meaning of Sovereignty in the 21st century? Should we return to the Westphalian order? Should we redefine sovereignty? Should we discard sovereignty altogether?

Part 2: Brexit and the Future of Sovereignty Again, keep in mind some questions, this time in this specific context… Q1: ‘What does Brexit tell us about sovereignty in contemporary times?’ Q2: ‘How important is/must sovereignty be for the UK?’ Q3: ‘How is the sovereignty of the UK limited by the EU and globalisation? How does Brexit fix this/makes it worse?’

Sovereignty in the UK The UK’s uncodified constitution establishes that sovereignty lies in the British Parliament International law is incorporated only if voted by parliament. Examples include the ECA of 1972 and the HRA of 1998 Is sovereignty so simple ? (E.g., devolution)

The EU & national sovereignty EU regulations, directives and decisions must be accepted by member states (e.g., the ‘four freedoms’) Important areas over which the EU has control are immigration (from the EU), trade, VAT and environmental policies Pooled sovereignty: Member states lose competences in certain areas in exchange for a voice in EU institutions However, the presence of Article 50 may suggest that sovereignty remains in the end within the state

Problematising Brexit: Taking back control? Leaving the EU would imply not contributing to its budget, removing the supremacy of its laws and losing the freedom of movement for EU citizens However, take control of what? Borders? Laws? Economy? Decision-making capabilities? How will leaving the EU help the UK tackle global issues and the effects of globalisation?

Problematising Brexit: EU-UK relations? Unless some sort of deal is reached, relations between both parties will be uncertain Moreover, the UK would lose the benefits of the Single Market and of European Integration What about the diplomatic and (geo)political effects?

Problematising Brexit: National sovereignty? What does the fact that Brexit was decided by a referendum say about sovereignty in the UK? What about the differences in Scotland and Ireland? What about the difference in age? Socio-economic class? Source: BBC News

DEBATE: Would Brexit return sovereignty to the UK? Which type of Brexit? At what cost? If sovereignty = control, is it not worth it to pool sovereignty in order to have control over global issues? Is control even possible anymore? Who should have a final say on the deal (if there is any)?

References Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (2017) The Globalisation of World Politics, Oxford, Oxford University Place BBC News, EU Referendum Results, retrieved on the 07/08/2019 from the webpage https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/eu_referendum/results Hobbes, T. (2008) Leviathan, Oxford, Oxford University Press Schmidt, C. (1985) Political Theology, Massachusetts, MIT Press UK Parliament, Parliament’s authority, retrieved on the 30/6/2019 from the webpage https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/sovereignty/ Weber, M. (1919) Politics as Vocation, retrieved on the 29/6/2019 from the webpage http://polisci2.ucsd.edu/foundation/documents/03Weber1918.pdf

Further readings Krasner, S. ‘Think Again: Sovereignty’ Foreign Policy, retrieved on the 07/08/2019 from the webpage https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/11/20/think-again-sovereignty/ Philpott, D. (2016) ‘Sovereignty’, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, retrieved on the 07/08/2019 from the webpage https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sovereignty/ The UK in a Changing Europe, retrieved on the 07/08/2019 from the webpage https://ukandeu.ac.uk/ FullFact.org, retrieved on the 05/07/2019 from the webpage https://fullfact.org/