European Communities Act 1972 (UK)
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| Long title | An Act to make provision in connection with the enlargement of the European Communities to include the United Kingdom, together with (for certain purposes) the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar. |
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| Citation | 1972 c. 68 |
| Introduced by | Geoffrey Rippon, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom (Also applicable to and in but not [formally] extended to [to become formally incorporated into and as part of the laws of] either any of the Islands (of the Crown Dependencies; of the Isle of Man, of Jersey, of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as a whole or of any one of the Islands of Guernsey), or Gibraltar) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 17 October 1972 |
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Status: Amended
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The European Communities Act 1972 (c. 68) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities (EC) (which was the collective term for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC) (also known at the time as the "Common Market") and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC)) and also legislated for the incorporation of European Union law (then Community law) into the domestic law of the United Kingdom. All three of these institutions would later form part of what is now known as the European Union. The act has been amended several times to give legal effect to the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty which formed the European Union, and most recently the Treaty of Lisbon. It may be repealed or amended following the decision in the EU Referendum to "Leave the European Union" on 23 June 2016.
In an interview with BBC News on 2 October 2016, Theresa May promised that the Government would introduce a bill to repeal the Act.
The European Communities Act was the instrument whereby the UK was able to join the European Union (then known as the European Communities). It enables, under section 2(2), UK government ministers to lay regulations before Parliament to transpose EU Directives and rulings of the European Court of Justice into UK law. It also provides, in section 2(4), that all UK legislation, including primary legislation (Acts of Parliament) have effect "subject to" directly applicable EU law. This has been interpreted by UK courts as granting EU law primacy over domestic UK legislation.
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