The Retained EU Law Bill, if it receives Royal Assent, could have far reaching implications for domestic law'
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill ("the Bill") was introduced to the House of Commons in September 2022. It has passed through the House of Commons and is waiting for Report Stage in the House of Lords.
The Bill follows on from The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("the Withdrawal Act") which came into effect on 31 December 2020 (the end of the Brexit transition period) and effectively took all EU legislation that still applied to the UK on 31 December 2020 and incorporated it onto the UK statute book. The incorporated EU laws were named "retained EU law" ("REUL"). This was to preserve the status quo. However, the UK Government never intended for REUL to remain on the UK statute book indefinitely and the Bill is the next step.
There are currently more than 3,700 pieces of REUL. A dashboard has been compiled by UK Government showing the list of retained EU laws.
Put simply, the Bill proposes (amongst other matters) that all REUL will lapse by 31 December 2023 unless it has been preserved or assimilated into UK law. In other words, unless it has been amended or preserved, it will drop from the UK statute book. This raises concerns as the Government have only reviewed 17% of all REUL and there remains in excess of 3000 pieces of REUL to review before the end of this year.
Government departments are required to take positive action in determining which REUL is suitable to expire or be preserved. As the proposed end date is only eight months away, it would be surprising if the relevant Government departments will be equipped and able to review all REUL under their jurisdiction to establish whether it should remain on the UK statute book.
A significant amount of regulatory standards have been incorporated into the UK's domestic legislation. There are many current UK laws that have arisen from EU entrenchment:
- Workers' rights
- The environment
- Food standards
- Health and safety
- Aviation safety
- Data privacy
- Consumer rights
REUL relating to tax, specifically VAT, excise and customs duty will be dealt with separately under the Finance Bill.
This Bill, if it receives Royal Assent, could have far reaching implications for domestic law if certain pieces of REUL are not incorporated into domestic legislation. At this stage it is impossible to know, with certainty, what legal changes will result from the Bill, but we are currently considering the outstanding REUL and will be providing further updates as the Government departments continue their review.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.