Chapter 9 Self-test questions

The European Union and Brexit
In the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, each country in the UK – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – voted in favour of leaving.

The body now known as the European Union was not always known by that name, nor did it always have the functions it currently has. Which of the following organisations did the Treaty of Paris create in 1951?

The development of the modern European Union progressed in stages. Below are four of the major Treaties which set out some of these developments. Match each Treaty to the changes it installed.

Amended voting procedures, granted the European Parliament more power and gave effect to the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Set up the precursor to the modern European Union, in the form of a common market for shared resourcing of coal and steel.

Introduced framework for dealing with security, foreign affairs and, importantly, a single currency.

Established the European Economic Community, with signatories committing to the 'four freedoms'.

Match each of the following European Union institutions to its principal function.

Initiates legislation.

Represents member state governments and scrutinises legislative proposals.

Represents the European people and scrutinises legislative proposals.

Provides co-ordination and impetus for the development of the EU.

Qualified majority voting (QMV) is a system in place in the European Council, meaning that EU legislation can only be passed through a 'double majority' procedure. What are the conditions of this 'double majority'?

Different types of EU law have different effects. Match each of the following types of EU law to the correct description regarding whether it has 'direct effect'.

Always directly effective.

Only directly effective if they are unconditional and sufficiently precise.

Only directly effective if they are unconditional, sufficiently precise, the implementation date has expired and they have 'vertical' application

Not directly effective.

At 11pm on 'exit day' – 31st January 2020 – EU law ceased to have any effect in the UK.

The 2018 European Union (Withdrawal) Act features a scheme to 'save' EU law, at least temporarily, and incorporate it into national law. However, changes are required to the text of a number of provisions to make them workable in this new context. How are these changes made?

The CJEU ruled in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft that the doctrine of supremacy means that EU law should take precedence over all national law, including the protection of human rights in Member States' constitutions. Why could the CJEU argue that, in practice, this would be unlikely to raise problems?

The supremacy of EU law over national law can be conceptualised in many ways. A particular complication is the notion of Parliamentary sovereignty. Below are four statements describing different conceptions of how EU law operates (or at least, operated until recently) in the UK. Match each view to its proponent.

EU law takes precedence over national law because Parliament passed the ECA, thus voluntarily accepting limitations upon its sovereignty.

EU law takes precedence over national law because of its very nature; it is an automatic feature

EU law takes precedence over national law because of the 'constitutional' nature of the ECA; Parliament can legislate in a way that is incompatible with EU law if it uses 'express' language.

EU law takes precedence over national law since the judges in the Factortame case precipitated a constitutional 'revolution' by identifying EU law as the highest form of law

Theresa May's attempts to pass the European Union (Withdrawal) Act were offset by an unusual degree of Parliamentary resistance. Which factors contributed to this situation? Select all that apply.

In the Supreme Court case of HS2, Lords Neuberger and Mance suggested that there could be a constitutional hierarchy, meaning that some constitutional principles could be considered more fundamental than some constitutional statutes.

Back to top