Constitution, Parliament & Government
The Isle of Man's economic and social achievements would not have been possible without the stability that its constitution and institutions provide. Her Majesty the Queen as Lord of Mann is Head of State. Her personal representative on the Island is His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, who is appointed by the Crown for a five-year term.
The Island is a Crown Dependency which, through its ancient parliament Tynwald, enjoys a high degree of domestic legislative and political autonomy. The United Kingdom Government is, by convention, responsible for the conduct of the external relations and defence of the Island.
Dating back to Viking origins over one thousand years ago, Tynwald is the oldest legislature in the world in continuous existence. It has two branches: the House of Keys and the Legislative Council. The majority of Members sit as independents and the virtual absence of party politics encourages a high degree of consensus. This has contributed to the remarkable stability of the Manx system.
The twenty-four Members of the House of Keys (MHKs) are elected by universal adult suffrage every five years. Eight of the eleven Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs), are elected by the Members of the House of Keys; there are also three ex officio members, the President of Tynwald, H.M. Attorney General and the Lord Bishop.
The Legislative Council generally acts as a chamber that revises Bills initiated in the Keys. The Royal Assent to Tynwald Bills is given by the Queen or, now more commonly, by His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor. The branches sit separately throughout the parliamentary year principally to enact primary legislation; they sit together as Tynwald Court mainly to debate matters of policy, approve delegated legislation and to adopt financial motions.
On 5th July each year, Tynwald Court assembles in the open air on Tynwald Hill at St. John's, a Viking site of the Manx Parliament, to conduct parliamentary business and receive petitions for redress.
The Island has a ministerial system of government. The political head of the Manx Government is the Chief Minister, who is nominated by Tynwald from amongst its own members and appointed by His Excellency The Lieutenant Governor. The Chief Minister selects the ministers who have responsibility for the major Government departments and, with the Chief Minister, form the Council of Ministers, the Manx Cabinet.
The objective of the Manx Government, as set out in its policy document 'The Development of a Prosperous and Caring Society,' is to maximise the Island's standard of living whilst safeguarding its environment and quality of life. This policy seeks to achieve, in the words of the document, 'a prosperous, law-abiding, caring and free enterprise society.'
The Constitutional Position
The Isle of Man is an internally self-governing dependent territory of the Crown, which is not part of the United Kingdom, but for whose external relations the United Kingdom is responsible.
The Legal Position
The relationship of the Isle of Man with the European Union is a special relationship set out in Protocol 3 to the Act of Accession annexed to the Treaty of Accession 1972, by which the United Kingdom became a member of the EEC (See below for the text of Protocol 3).
The Isle of Man is not a member state of the European Union. The Isle of Man is not an associate member of the European Union. The Island's relationship with the European Union cannot be changed unless Protocol 3 is changed. To change the Protocol would require the unanimous decision of all member States of the EU, which, of course, includes the United Kingdom.
The relationship that the Island has with the EU under Protocol 3 has proved to be a generally beneficial one and it would be unwise for the Island to seek to disturb that relationship.
Protocol 3 to the Act of Accession
Protocol No.3 on the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Article 1
The Community rules on customs matters and quantitative restrictions, in particular those of the Act of Accession, shall apply to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man under the same conditions as they apply to the United Kingdom. In particular, customs duties and charges having equivalent effect between those territories and the Community, as originally constituted and between those territories and the new Member States, shall be progressively reduced in accordance with the timetable laid down in Articles 32 and 36 of the Act of Accession.
The Common Customs Tariff and the ECSC unified tariff shall be progressively applied in accordance with the timetable laid down in Articles 39 and 59 of the Act of Accession, and account being taken of Articles 109, 110 and 119 of that Act. 2. In respect of agricultural products and products processed therefrom which are the subject of a special trade regime, the levies and other import measures laid down in Community rules and applicable by the United Kingdom shall be applied to third countries. Such provisions of Community rules, in particular those of the Act of Accession, as are necessary to allow free movement and observance of normal conditions of competition in trade in these products shall also be applicable.
The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, shall determine the conditions under which the provisions referred to in the preceding sub-paragraphs shall be applicable to these territories.
Article 2
The rights enjoyed by Channel Islanders or Manxmen in the United Kingdom shall not be affected by the Act of Accession. However, such persons shall not benefit from Community provisions relating to the free movement of persons and services.
Article 3
The provision of the Euratom Treaty applicable to persons or undertakings within the meaning of Article 196 of that Treaty shall apply to those persons or undertakings when they are established in the aforementioned territories.
Article 4
The authorities of these territories shall apply the same treatment to all natural and legal persons of the Community.
Article 5
If, during the application of the arrangements defined in this Protocol, difficulties appear on either side in relations between the Community and these territories, the Commission shall without delay propose to the Council such safeguard measures as it believes necessary, specifying their terms and conditions of application. The Council shall act by a qualified majority within one month.
Article 6
In this Protocol, Channel Islander or Manxman shall mean any citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies who holds that citizenship by virtue of the fact that he, a parent or grandparent was born, adopted, naturalised or registered in the Island in question; but such a person shall not for this purpose be regarded as a Channel Islander or Manxman if he, a parent or a grandparent was born, adopted or naturalised or registered in the United Kingdom. Nor shall he be so regarded if he has at any time been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for five years. The administrative arrangements necessary to identify these persons will be notified to the Commission.
The Effect of the Protocol
Under the above Protocol, the Isle of Man is part of the customs territory of the Union. It follows that the Common Customs Tariff, levies and other agricultural import measures apply to trade between the Isle of Man and non-member countries and that there is free movement of goods in trade between the Isle of Man and the Union as regards industrial and agricultural products. However, subject to compliance by the Isle of Man authorities with the principle of equal treatment for all natural and legal persons in the Union, the other Union rules do not apply.
The provisions of the European Union Treaties on the free movement of persons, services and capital and the provisions concerning the common policies, in particular, eligibility for assistance from the structural funds and the support measures for agricultural markets do not therefore apply to the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man and Community Institutional Development
The Maastricht Summit of December, 1991 produced the Treaty on European Union. The Summit represented the culmination of the work of the two Inter-Governmental Conferences which looked at:-
(i) Economic and Monetary Union and
(ii) Political Union
The Treaty comprises:-
- A series of amendments to the Treaty of Rome
- A set of proposals for making progress in a number of areas outside the Treaty of Rome, particularly in relation to a common foreign policy and provisions on co-operation in the spheres of justice and home affairs. Although the Maastricht Treaty amends the Treaty of Rome significantly, the amendments do not affect the relationship between the Isle of Man and the European Union. Similarly, the Amsterdam Treaty, which introduced further changes to the EU, did not affect this relationship.
The Isle of Man and the European Economic Area
On 1st January 1994, an Agreement between the EU and most of the EFTA States to form a European Economic Area (EEA) entered into force. The aim of the Agreement is to strengthen trade and economic relations between the parties with equal conditions of competition and respect for the same rules. The EEA Agreement has been implemented in the Isle of Man but does not affect the Isle of Man's relationship with the EU.