Britain is taking back control of its statute book
The potential of an independent UK forging its own place in the world is one of the reasons the country voted to leave the European Union. It’s why, as Trade Secretary, I prioritised negotiations with the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-pacific Partnership, sending out a signal of how post-brexit Britain can thrive when it thinks beyond our immediate neighbours, by joining a group of the globe’s fastest growing economies.
It’s also why, now that I’ve been given responsibility for EU laws that have remained on the UK statute book, I want to make sure we do so in a way that maximises our competitive advantage. Yes, of course I want to ensure we remove any unnecessary regulations we inherited from Brussels over the past 50 years. But the real prize is the unique opportunity to look again at these regulations and decide if they’re right for our economy, if we can scrap them, or if we can improve them and spur economic growth.
The Government introduced the Retained EU Law (REUL) Bill so that we could end the special status of retained EU law. It ensures that, for the first time in a generation, the UK’S statute book will not recognise the supremacy of EU law or EU legal principles. As the Bill is currently drafted, almost all REUL is automatically revoked at the end of 2023, unless a statutory instrument is passed to preserve it.
When I was handed responsibility for this Bill I saw that, confronted with the default position of retained EU law sunsetting at the end of this year, Whitehall departments had focused on which laws should be preserved ahead of the deadline, rather than pursuing the meaningful reform Government and businesses want to see. I decided a new approach was needed; one that will ensure ministers and officials are freed up to focus on more reform of REUL, and to do it faster.
This week, we are publishing a list of the retained EU laws that will be scrapped by the end of 2023. This provides certainty for business in making it clear which regulations will disappear, instead of only which laws would be saved. We will retain the powers that allow us to continue to amend EU laws, so more complex regulation can still be revoked or reformed after proper assessment. I will make it a priority to inject impetus into the project to identify and scrap even more unnecessary regulations. Critically, by the end of the year, we will end the supremacy of EU law and provide our courts with the ability to depart from the European Court of Justice case law. With this we fully take back control of our laws – as promised in the Conservative Party manifesto.
This isn’t solely about ending the jurisdiction of the European Court in Britain, it is also about making those laws fit for UK purposes. I understand that when governments tie business up in red tape it holds them back, reduces competitiveness in global markets and hampers national growth.
The Government has also been clear since the introduction of the REUL Bill that we will deliver on the promises of Brexit without abandoning our high standards. We will not reduce workers’ rights and protections, nor will we repeal maternity rights or threaten the high environmental standards, and we will ensure that we do not revoke legislation required to uphold our international obligations. I’m pleased to say that the Government has already reformed or revoked over 1,000 pieces of REUL. In addition to the list of around 600 coming in the Bill, the Financial Services and Markets Bill and the Procurement Bill will repeal around 500 pieces of REUL. Alongside this, the Government is committed to loosening the regulatory burden on businesses, and our Edinburgh Reforms of UK financial services include over 30 regulatory reforms to boost growth.
As part of this drive for greater deregulation, today I am announcing that we will make improvements to employment law that could help save businesses around £1billion a year, while safeguarding the rights of workers. We will consult on cutting unnecessary red tape on recording working hours, streamline engagement with workers when a business transfers to new owners and provide up to five million UK workers greater freedom to switch jobs by limiting non-compete clauses.
Getting rid of EU law should be about more than a race to a deadline. It should be about making sure our laws work for the people who use them. Regulatory reform is integral to the Prime Minister’s mission to boost the UK economy; a mission that puts business, consumers and the public first.
‘We will provide certainty for business over which laws will disappear, instead of which ones will stay’