Sovereignty is central to the powers of a state. It allows governments to choose their own laws. For example, the Canadian government cannot impose laws in Portugal. However, lobby groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will often try to influence public opinion and government decisions on certain laws and regulations. International organizations also sometimes put pressure on states.
A sovereign state is an independent state. It is free to make its own decisions for the welfare of its country and its people. No other state can impose rules. The state makes its own decisions for its people. Globalization, however, has brought with it a new context.
Globalization is a process that pushes states to open their national economy to the world market in order to increase trade between countries, making them interdependent. Trade may include services, goods, capital or the movement of workers.
These days, the movement of goods, services and money no longer has any borders due to globalization. Canadian markets are no longer limited to Canadians as they can be accessed by foreign investors and buyers. Trade between states means that certain issues that used to only affect a few countries now span the entire globe. An economic crisis is a good example of this.
This makes being part of an international organization very beneficial, as states can work together to address global issues. International organizations provide a framework for certain activities that concern the entire world or a large part of the world, such as the environment, global security, etc.
However, a state loses some of its sovereignty when it joins an international organization, since its decision-making becomes limited. Even if international organizations bring together states with the same interests, a state may not agree with the decision made by the majority of the member states. It still has to go along with whatever the other members decide, reducing its decision-making power for its own government and population.
The state's collaboration with other member states within the same international organizations redefines the powers of the state since common decisions can affect its governance. This means that a state loses some of its sovereignty.
Governance is the process of setting measures and rules that allow a state, an organization or a company to operate. It is the action of governing.
Many international organizations exist, including international courts, military alliances and economic and political groupings. Each organization has its own governance, meaning that each has established a set of rules and processes through which states participate in decision-making and implementation.
This process involves negotiations between states, who take turns stating their positions and interests. These negotiations may lead to agreements between the members of an organization. By signing an agreement, a state expresses its willingness to be a part of the agreement. Ratification is an important step. When a signatory state ratifies an agreement, a legal obligation ensues. The state is then obligated to implement the necessary measures to comply with the terms of the agreement. It’s at this point that the state’s sovereignty becomes limited.
Ratification is when a state officially accepts to participate in an agreement or convention.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is one of many United Nations (UN) institutions. Its role is to resolve tension and conflict between different states. The ICJ settles disagreements between states only when they ask it to do so. The ICJ is often called upon to resolve issues relating to the delimitation of borders. For example, in 2008, Guatemala and Belize submitted a request to resolve their disputes over island territories and maritime spaces. As of April 2020, the matter was still not settled.
An institution is an organization governed by rules and laws that plays a specific role in society. This role may be political, social, economic, religious, etc.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutes individuals who have committed crimes against humanity, genocide or war crimes. It can only try cases that involve a crime either committed by a citizen of an ICC member state or that took place within a member state's territory. The first ICC judgment was of a Congolese military commander convicted of the war crime of recruiting child soldiers.
When the ICJ and ICC render their judgments and states accept them, their sovereignty is affected because a higher court is intervening within their territory. These two courts have a greater power of decision and authority than any state.
Normally, a sovereign state has exclusive executive, legislative and judicial powers within its territory. In some cases, the state gives up its judicial power to accept the power of the ICJ and the ICC.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is the world’s largest military alliance, whose aim is to ensure the defence and stability of world order.
The events of September 11, 2001 are a good example of redefining state powers and the restriction of state sovereignty. Following these attacks, all NATO members were ready to assist the United States, but had to wait for the Security Council’s authorization. The decision was made based on a vote by the 15 Council members. As a result, the 189 members of the UN were required to implement the Council’s decision to disarm Iraq, even if they disagreed with it.
NATO leaders at the opening ceremony of the 2018 NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium.
Source: Michailidis, Alexandros. “Heads of governments of member countries of NATO at the opening ceremony of NATO summit 2018 in front of NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on July 11, 2018,” Shutterstock, July 11, 2018.
There are several political and economic groupings. The best known are the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). These groupings limit the sovereignty of their member states.
The United Nations (UN) aims to maintain international peace and security and is currently made up of 193 of the 197 recognized states. It’s the organization with the largest number of member countries.
The Charter of the United Nations, which sets out the organization’s main principles, states that the UN is not a world government and guarantees the sovereign equality of all its members. However, some of its many institutions, such as the General Assembly and the Security Council, may vote on decisions that are not necessarily acceptable to all members.
The General Assembly is a discussion forum where many heads of state speak. Decisions on important issues, such as peace, security, the acceptance of new members and the budget, are made by a majority vote of the member states. These recommendations must be respected, but they are not laws. States adopt them as codes of conduct.
The Security Council can impose sanctions against states that refuse to comply with decisions made by the majority of UN members. These sanctions may be economic or trade-related, such as an embargo (stopping exports to a certain country) on products or financial restrictions. Joining the UN can limit a state’s sovereignty, since a sovereign state should not have sanctions imposed on it by another government or organization.
Unlike the UN, the European Union (EU) has a supranational government, meaning a government of 27 member states that has authority over the state governments. Just like a state, the EU has institutions that share executive, legislative and legal powers. Resolutions on more serious issues such as immigration and foreign policy require a unanimous vote to be adopted, but all other decisions only require a majority.
This means that the European government can pass laws that apply to all EU members. For example, there is a common fisheries policy, which sets out a series of rules to manage the European fishing fleet, since this resource is shared by all members. This restriction of state sovereignty is one of the reasons that the United Kingdom voted in June 2016 to leave the EU. About 70% of all UK laws came from EU decisions. On January 31, 2020, the UK officially withdrew from the EU.
Other political and economic groupings include the World Trade Organization (WTO) with 164 members, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with 37 members, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with 14 members, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) with 88 members, the African Union (AU) with 55 members, and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) with only 3 members.
Although these organizations have different approaches, they all gradually limit the sovereignty of their member countries, who must follow the decision of the majority in various agreements, treaties and conventions.
The North American Free Trade Agreement involved Canada, the United States and Mexico and promoted free trade between these three countries. A free trade zone is created when measures that restrict trade are eliminated. This zone is therefore a defined territory that offers tax benefits.
For example, the customs duty, which is a tax levied on imported goods as they cross the border, is reduced or even eliminated for several types of goods. NAFTA came into force in 1994 and offered many new ideas.
The agreement was the first to establish that governments are not allowed to intervene against foreign investment. This would contradict NAFTA’s mandate to provide a free trade zone. Although innovative, this agreement can reduce state sovereignty.
This is what happened in 1997 when the American company Ethyl Corporation sued the Canadian government. Why? Canada banned the import of a chemical created by ethyl used in oil refining. After realizing that it would lose the case and risk a large payout, Canada agreed to remove its own law and settle the dispute with the company out of court. The Canadian government paid the Ethyl Corporation $13 million.
In 2018, NAFTA was replaced by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), a free trade agreement focused on the modern needs of the three countries. CUSMA took effect in 2020.
States often join international organizations, such as the European Union or the United Nations, to come together to discuss and decide on issues that affect several states due to globalization. However, states are sometimes forced to adopt decisions that do not necessarily benefit them, since they have to adopt measures that apply to all members.