European Communities Act 1972

E150261

Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom constitutional statute

The European Communities Act 1972 was the UK statute that enabled the country’s membership of the European Communities and gave direct effect and supremacy to European Community law within the UK legal system.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
European Communities Act 1972 canonical	9
European Communities Act 1972 (United Kingdom)	2
European Communities Act 1972 (for original transposition)	1
European Communities Act 1972 (historically)	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom ⓘ constitutional statute ⓘ
affectedBy	European Union (Amendment) Act 2008 ⓘ European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ⓘ European Union Act 2011 ⓘ
appliedInCaseLaw	R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ⓘ R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex parte Factortame Ltd ⓘ
appliedTo	courts of the United Kingdom ⓘ
citedAs	1972 c.68 ⓘ
classifiedAs	constitutional statute in UK case law ⓘ
commencementDate	1973-01-01 ⓘ
country	United Kingdom ⓘ
createdDoctrineOf	primacy of EU law in the UK legal order ⓘ
enabled	United Kingdom membership of the European Communities ⓘ implementation of the Treaty of Accession 1972 ⓘ
gaveDirectEffectTo	European Community law in the United Kingdom ⓘ
gaveSupremacyTo	European Community law over inconsistent UK law ⓘ
implemented	Treaty of Accession 1972 (United Kingdom to the European Communities) ⓘ surface form: Treaty concerning the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities
introducedBy	Edward Heath ⓘ surface form: Edward Heath government
jurisdiction	United Kingdom ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
legalBasisFor	application of EU regulations in the UK ⓘ implementation of EU directives in the UK ⓘ incorporation of EU treaties into UK law ⓘ
legislature	British Parliament ⓘ surface form: Parliament of the United Kingdom
longTitle	An Act to make provision in connection with the enlargement of the European Communities to include the United Kingdom ⓘ
partOf	United Kingdom constitutional framework prior to Brexit ⓘ
providedThat	UK courts must disapply domestic legislation inconsistent with directly effective EU law ⓘ UK courts must interpret and apply EU law as authoritative ⓘ rights, powers, liabilities, obligations and restrictions arising under the EU treaties are to be given legal effect in the UK without further enactment ⓘ
purpose	to give effect in domestic law to the UK’s obligations under the European Communities treaties ⓘ
recognizedAsConstitutionalStatuteIn	Thoburn v Sunderland City Council ⓘ
relatedTo	European Atomic Energy Community ⓘ European Coal and Steel Community ⓘ European Economic Community ⓘ Treaty of Rome ⓘ
repealDeferredBy	European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 ⓘ
repealedBy	European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ⓘ
repealEffectiveDate	2020-01-31 ⓘ
royalAssentDate	1972-10-17 ⓘ
section	Section 1 ⓘ Section 2 ⓘ Section 3 ⓘ
shortTitle	European Communities Act 1972 self-link ⓘ
status	repealed ⓘ
subjectMatter	European Union legal order ⓘ surface form: European Union law constitutional law of the United Kingdom ⓘ treaty implementation ⓘ
yearEnacted	1972 ⓘ

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Common Agricultural Policy implementation (pre-Brexit) → legalBasis → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 → repeals → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 → relatedTo → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

Treaty of Accession 1972 (United Kingdom to the European Communities) → implementedBy → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

this entity surface form: European Communities Act 1972 (United Kingdom)

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament → includesNotableExample → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

Constitution of the United Kingdom → includes → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

this entity surface form: European Communities Act 1972 (historically)

European Communities Act 1972 → shortTitle → European Communities Act 1972 self-link ⓘ

R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union → relatedLegislation → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

Environmental Information Regulations 2004 → madeUnder → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

Network and Information Systems Regulations → legalBasis → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

this entity surface form: European Communities Act 1972 (for original transposition)

1972 Accession Treaty → implementedBy → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

this entity surface form: European Communities Act 1972 (United Kingdom)

Legal history of the United Kingdom → includesEvent → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ

Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 → madeUnder → European Communities Act 1972 ⓘ