Suchergebnisse

MEMBERSHIP OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY INVOLVES A TRANSFER OF some powers of law-making, on a range of economic and social matters, from national authorities to the Council of Ministers and the Commission. In constitutional terms this implies a limitation of sovereignty on the part of the individual member states; but to what extent does it represent a loss of political sovereignty?There are several considerations, starting with the abstractness and relativity of the concept of sovereignty itself in relation to the interdependence of groups of states in the post-war world. Membership of any international organization implies some degree of formal constraint which is accepted as a means of achieving a desired goal. Admittedly the European Community has established a unique juridical plane, but governments of the member states assess membership as a means of enhancing their national economic and political capabilities.