REPEAL BILL
“A bill will be introduced to repeal the European
Communities Act and provide
certainty for individuals and businesses.”
The purpose of the Bill is to:
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End the authority of European Union law in the United
Kingdom and return powers from Brussels to the UK.
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Provide a functioning statute book on the day we leave
the European Union and ensure that it is for our sovereign
Parliament (and where appropriate the devolved legislatures) to
make any future changes to our laws.
The main benefits of the Bill are:
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Allowing for a smooth and orderly transition as the UK
leaves the EU, ensuring that, wherever practical, the same
rules and laws apply after exit and therefore maximising
certainty for individuals and businesses.
-
The UK Parliament (and where appropriate the devolved
legislatures) will be free to make any future changes to our
laws.
The main elements of the Bill are:
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Repealing the European Communities Act 1972 and
converting EU law into UK law as we leave the EU.
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Creating temporary powers to make secondary legislation,
enabling corrections to be made to the laws that do not operate
appropriately once we have left the EU. It will also allow
changes to be made to domestic law to reflect the content of
any withdrawal agreement under Article 50.
-
Replicating the common UK frameworks created by EU law in
UK law, and maintaining the scope of devolved decision making
powers immediately after EU- exit. This will be a transitional
arrangement to provide certainty after exit and allow intensive
discussion and consultation with devolved administrations on
where lasting common frameworks are needed.
Territorial extent and application
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The Bill’s substantive provisions would apply to the
whole of the UK.
Key facts
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Throughout the statute book, there are references that
will no longer be accurate once we leave the EU, such as
references to “EU law" or “EU obligations".
These will need to be repealed or amended to ensure
we have a comprehensive statute book post-exit, so the power to
correct the law would allow the Government to amend converted
law to reflect our new position.
-
There will be law which upon leaving the EU will no
longer work at all due to, for example, reference to an EU
institution that will no longer be relevant to the UK. In this
instance the power to correct the law would allow the
Government to amend our domestic legislation either to replace
the reference to an EU institution with a UK body (or bodies)
or remove the reference completely.
-
Once we leave the EU, there will be areas of law where
legislation would continue to work legally and can be complied
with, but where the policy outcome delivered by that
legislation might cease to make sense. For example, information
sharing with EU institutions. In this case where the law no
longer functions as intended, the Government would be able to
amend or repeal these converted regulations to reflect that
such an arrangement should only exist if it has been separately
agreed, or is otherwise in the UK’s interest.
