Agree AO1: There has been a significant increase in the number and type of regional cooperative bodies in recent years and particularly since the 1980s AO2: An increase in the number of regional bodies has been accompanied by an increase in the areas that they are now involved in, from security to trade, worker rights and even the environment AO3: We may reach the conclusion that the increase in number and focus of these regional bodies shows that the nation state may no longer represent the sole or most significant decision maker in global politics The European Union claims that it ‘pools sovereignty’ and to many such as UKIP/Brexit Party in the UK this must represent an erosion of state sovereignty as do the critics of the trade relationship in NAFTA who call for the US to leave. Regional bodies appear to involve the pooling of sovereignty in one or numerous areas with an understanding that states will apply common rules and regulations in order to benefit members and the creation of so many parties opposed to this strengthens the view that it is indeed taking place. Pooling of sovereignty suggests that there has been a movement in the location of sovereignty which, we may conclude, shows that the original sole holder of sovereignty has lost a degree of power and growing opposition to regional bodies supports this view The European Union includes a number of institutions such as the European Court of Justice, Commission and Parliament which make decisions impacting on member states A number of these institutions appear to hold Supranational characteristics such as the ECJ which can make decisions that states may not wish to obey but have no choice but to accept such as the Factortame case in the UK or decisions made by QMV in the Council of Ministers We may conclude that regional bodies, particularly those which exhibit Supranational characteristics, must be eroding state sovereignty as states are having to obey decisions that they disagree with Some regional bodies represent their members in global decision making such as the EU which represents its members in the WTO The European Union is authorised to make decisions for member states in the WTO and does represent the collective members in a series of other organisations and agreements including environmental agreements which implies that states have lost a degree of control and sovereignty We may conclude that decision making on behalf of states but which states have no direct control over and may actually disagree with is a clear indication of weakened sovereignty so it is plain to judge that regionalism has eroded sovereignty Disagree AO1: Sovereign states remain the main building block of global politics in all of the most significant institutions such as the United Nations. AO2: There are no regional bodies in the most significant global institutions as states are unwilling to surrender decision making to them at the highest levels. AO3: We may conclude that as states are only willing to allow regional bodies to make decisions in certain global institutions but excluding the most important of these institutions then state sovereignty has not really been eroded. Supranationalism has been resisted in most regional bodies such as ASEAN and the African Union The African Union is a staunch defender of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and the independence of its member states ASEAN way at its core. We may conclude that as most regional bodies make clear that they are established with a recognition of and respect for state sovereignty then clearly they are not eroding state sovereignty. There has been a rise in concern about the impact of regional bodies in certain states such as the UK which has led to a reassertion of the nation state and of nationalism. The fact that the UK is able to withdraw from the European Union and that there has been a backlash against further integration through anti EU movements in Hungary, Poland, Austria, Netherlands and Italy suggests a reluctance to accept any challenge to state sovereignty. We may conclude that the opposition to deeper integration shows that regional bodies are unlikely to be able to integrate further and certainly deeper without hitting a political wall when they begin to challenge state sovereignty. The EU began as an economic entity and other regional bodies focus on the economic arena ie NAFTA the AU and ASEAN as part of an attempt to protect members in a globalised economy. It is the case that the vast majority of regional bodies are economic in focus rather than political and are used as a protection for the nation state against the process of globalisation via loose arrangements with similar states with the EU economic example acting as a blueprint for others to follow. We may conclude that the focus on economics within regional bodies often to collectively protect the economies of individual states in a global market shows that regionalism is actually an extension of the sovereignty of member states.