Sovereignty and the EEC
Sir: I do not know where Mr Hopkins (Letters, June 16) saw Enoch Powell's "unequivocal declaration concerning Britain's withdrawal from the EEC.' When interviewed by Alistair Burnett on Panorama on June ii, Mr Powell showed, like the Labour Party, his main concern is with the terms of participation in the Market. "Terms is the essence of the matter," he said. When asked by Mr Burnett if his demand of the leaders of his Party is to re-negotiate the terms of entry, he replied, "Yes, on that point, and it always has been."
I find it amazing that a man of Enoch Powell's altogether remarkable intellect should believe that Parliamentary 'sovereignty, about which he is so rightly concerned, can be preserved in the EEC by securing the 'right terms.' No government, whether Conservative or Labour, can re-negotiate the terms ot Parliament's relationship to the EEC bureaucracy because they were laid down years ago in the Treaty of Rome, full acceptance of which was an express condition of British membership of the Common Market.
Article 189 of the Treaty of Rome specifically states that national parliaments must accept as binding in every respect regulations issued by the European Commission. This body issues thousands of regulations and directives each year covering most aspects of a nation's political life, such as agriculture, taxation, transport, coal and steel, and regional policies. All now have the force of law in Britain because of article 189, regardless of views held at Westminster. So it is this Article which will ensure that Parliament will dwindle in importance and assume the role of a rubber-stamp in subordination to the all-powerful EEC bureaucracy.
In arguing that our Parliamentary sovereignty can be restored by negotiation, would Mr Powell have us believe that the Treaty of Rome does not mean what its provisions state it means? If so, he would have no alternative in logic than to suggest that the formulation of the Treaty was only a parlour-game to keep the drafters amused.
Kevan Bleach 1 Woolmer Bungalows, Warren Road, Liss Forest, Liss, Hampshire
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