We are in the EU by virtue of laws that the electorate were never asked about. In fact we were promised a referendum before the Lisbon treaty, that never materialised.
Icimoi - here is a quote from the EU describing what happens to the body of law of a sovereign nation when they apply to join the EU (my italics):
"1.1 What is approximation?
The approximation of law is a unique obligation of membership in the European Union. It means that countries aspiring to join the European Union must align their national laws, rules and procedures in order to give effect to the entire body of EU law contained in the acquis communautaire(2).
As the obligation to approximate continues after accession, the pre-accession approximation process becomes an opportunity for countries to organise their institutions and procedures and to train their staff for the daily processes and responsibilities of European Union law making, implementation and enforcement.(3)
There are three key elements:
First, to adopt or change national laws, rules, and procedures so that the requirements of the relevant EU law are fully incorporated into the national legal order. This process is known as Transposition. Although countries have considerable discretion in choosing the most appropriate national mechanism to reflect Union environmental obligations, this discretion is limited in some respects by general principles of Union law. In most cases it will be necessary to adopt national legislation passed by Parliament or in some countries by Presidential or Governmental Decree. Section 4 'Principles of Transposition' gives further guidance.
Second, to provide the institutions and budgets necessary to carry out the laws and regulations (known as the 'Implementation' or 'Practical Application' of the directive -See Annex 4 for full definitions).
Third, to provide the necessary controls and penalties to ensure that the law is being complied with fully and properly (Enforcement)."
The principle was set down in the 1960s that EU laws have to be applied the same way throughout the EU. That means all nations acceding to the EU have to apply the entire aquis in their own jurisdictions, and if national laws conflict then national laws must be repealed.
It has long been held as a principle of the EU that national legislation cannot supersede, repeal or overrule EU legislation (see Costa v ENEL, 1964). This is in profound contradiction with the UK parliamentary tradition, which holds that no parliament can be bound by the actions of previous parliaments. In other words, if you don't like the laws the Tories bring in, you can vote them out and vote Labour in who can repeal them. But it doesn't matter if we don't like legislation passed at EU level, because we can't vote the EU out and nor can we mandate our national government to repeal this legislation without opting out of the EU as a whole.
How this does not translate to EU law superseding UK law, and indeed to a profound loss of national sovereignty to an undemocratic body, is beyond me.