| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: House of Commons: Exiting the European Union Committee |
|---|---|
| Series Title | 1st Report |
| Series Details | (2017-19) HC373 |
| Publication Date | 17/11/2017 |
| Content Type | Policy-making, Report |
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Further information After leaving the EU, some retained EU laws could be amended to better reflect the UK’s regulatory and business environment. In other areas, it wwould be in the UK’s interest to keep pace with changes to laws in the EU as seems to be suggested, for example, by the delegated powers in the Trade Bill and the Nuclear Safeguards Bill. Government should also publish details of how they will ensure the UK’s regulatory agencies have the necessary resources and enforcement powers which were vital for consumer confidence and access to markets. The Committee heard evidence for and against the Bill's removal of the Charter of Fundamental Rights from domestic law. The purpose of the Bill was to provide legal certainty for the UK the day after it left the EU and not to reshape rights in the UK. It would be helpful if the Government published its memorandum on rights set out in the Charter, as referred to by the Minister, before Clause 5 was considered in Committee Stage of the Bill. The Committee encouraged the Government to improve engagement with the devolved administrations in order to break the current deadlock on devolved powers and reach agreement with the devolved administrations on how and when reserved competencies will be devolved. An estimated 800 to 1,000 statutory instruments would need to be passed before exit day. In the course of the Committee Stage of the Bill, the Committee recommended that an interim Report prepared by the Procedure Committee on the scrutiny of delegated legislation under the Bill was given further consideration by the House. Uncertainty will only be removed if all the necessary legislative amendments were in place by any potential exit day to ensure no gaps are left in the statute book. Background Following the 8 June 2017 General Election in the United Kingdom the State Opening of Parliament took place on the 21 June 2017. This marked the formal start of the parliamentary year and included the Queen's Speech which set out the government’s agenda for the 2017-19 session, outlining proposed policies and legislation. The programme was dominated by proposed legislation dealing with the United Kingdom's planned leaving of the European Union. Eight of the twenty seven bills to be introduced were connected with Brexit. + European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (introduced on the 13 July 2017) Even though the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill was introduced in July 2017 parliamentary scrutiny in practice only began in the autumn of 2017 after the summer break. Opposition parties, human rights groups and the leaders of Scotland and Wales criticised aspects of the bill and suggested they would call for substantive amendments.The Exiting the European Union Committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons published a report European Union (Withdrawal) Bill on the 17 November 2017. The report followed a short inquiry to examine aspects of the Bill in order to inform the Committee and Report Stage. Core findings The inquiry focussed on the Bill’s provisions for converting the acquis communautaire into British law, the implications for the devolution settlements and the power to implement the withdrawal agreement. The report concluded that: + The Government’s amendments to set the exit day as 11pm on 29 March 2019 would create significant difficulties if EU negotiations go down to the wire. |
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| Source Link | https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmexeu/373/373.pdf |
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| Countries / Regions | United Kingdom |
