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

2. 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?

3. 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?’

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. 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?

9. 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)

10. 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?

11. 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?’

12. 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)

13. 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

14. 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?

15. 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?

16. 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

17. 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)?

18. 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
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
Weber, M. (1919) Politics as Vocation, retrieved on the 29/6/2019 from the webpage

19. Further readings
Krasner, S. ‘Think Again: Sovereignty’ Foreign Policy, retrieved on the 07/08/2019 from the webpage
Philpott, D. (2016) ‘Sovereignty’, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, retrieved on the 07/08/2019 from the webpage
The UK in a Changing Europe, retrieved on the 07/08/2019 from the webpage
FullFact.org, retrieved on the 05/07/2019 from the webpage