EU Withdrawal Act 2018

Introduction

The EU Withdrawal Act received Royal Assent on the 26 June 2018 having formally been refered to as the the 'Great Repeal Bill' which would allow the UK to leave the European Union (EU). Without the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 when the UK left the EU all the rules and regulations that EU law covers e.g. environmental regulation, workers rights etc would have had no legal standing in the UK creating in effect a "black hole" in the UK Statute book leading to legal uncertainty and confusion.

The purpose of the Act therefore is to provide certainty and continuity, ensuring the same rules and laws apply immediately after Brexit wherever possible and supporting a smooth transition.

What does it do?

The EU Withdrawal Act does three main things:

1. Repeals the European Communities Act 1972. This legislation provides legal authority for EU law to have effect as national law in the UK. It does this in two ways:
   1. Some types of EU legislation – including treaty obligations and regulations – have direct effect in the UK’s legal system without the UK Parliament having to pass any further legislation. For example, the Waste Shipments Regulation was agreed at EU level and apply in every member country.
   2. Other types of EU legislation – including Directives and Decisions – can be made to apply in the UK either by primary legislation (Act of Parliament) or, much more commonly, by secondary legislation. For example, the Waste Framework Directive was implemented in the UK via the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 as amended.

1. Brings all EU laws onto the UK books.The Act is essentially a giant ‘copy and paste’ exercise meaning that laws and regulation made over the past 40 years while the UK was a member of the EU will continue to apply after Brexit. In doing this, the Act creates a new category of UK law: EU retained law.

1. Gives ministers power to make secondary legislation. But the Act couldn’t just copy and paste EU laws unchanged onto the statute book. Many EU laws for instance mention EU institutions in which the UK will no longer participate after Brexit, or mention EU law itself, which will no longer be part of the UK legal system. There is not enough time for Parliament to make all these changes through primary legislation, so the Act gives ministers so-called ‘Henry VIII powers’ to make changes to both primary and secondary legislation using statutory instruments, which can get onto the statute book quicker as they are subject to less parliamentary scrutiny.