The British government’s plan to review or repeal all EU laws left on the UK statute book by the end of 2023 became more difficult on Monday after it announced that another 1,000 laws had been added to the pile slated for reform.
In its ongoing EU law “dashboard” update, the government said the number of laws covering more than 400 unique policy areas now stands at 3,700. He also acknowledged the list is incomplete and should be updated monthly as more laws are discovered.
The plan to review many of the laws, quickly, has drawn fierce criticism from business groups, legal experts, labor unions and environmental groups. He warned that rushing the review would create costly and destabilizing legal uncertainty.
Last week, Tony Danker, director general of the CBI, the industry body, said the government was acting “stupidly” in trying to rush through a review that would cause “confusion and disruption” as the UK tries to exit. recession.
However, the government said on Monday the review process would “maximize the benefits of Brexit and test opportunities for reform”.
In a statement to mark the third anniversary of Britain leaving the EU, prime minister Rishi Sunak said the government had taken “big steps to harness the freedoms unlocked by Brexit”.
He cited new freeports, changes to the City of London rulebook, vaccinations and the UK’s new subsidy regime as some of the benefits, although some could be delivered while the UK is in the EU.
“We have made our way as an independent nation with confidence,” he said.
However, a new Ipsos Mori poll found that 45 percent of people across Britain think Brexit will be worse than expected, up from 28 percent in June 2021.
Sunak also reiterated his view that rewriting EU rules is a “key area where the UK can develop a competitive advantage to grow the economy”, while safeguarding workers’ rights and environmental protection.
Senior Whitehall officials have warned that the task of reviewing the myriad laws, including everything from environmental regulations to rules governing workplace conditions, will strain government bureaucracy.
The expansion of the list on Monday was caused by the discovery last December of 1,400 additional pieces of EU legislation in the National Archives.
A “sunset clause” in the Detained European Union (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022, which is in the House of Lords, also means that any EU law that has not been reviewed by the end of 2023 will automatically fall off the statute book. unless saved.
The announcement of the expansion of the list of completed EU laws was further criticized by lawyers, conservation groups and MPs from the opposition Labor party, who argued that the law was undemocratic because it allowed ministers to change laws without proper oversight.
Joël Reland, from England in the Changing Europe think-tank, said that the continuous increase of the dashboard does not leave enough time for officials to properly consider whether each newly discovered regulation should be kept in the statute book.
“Allowing thousands of pieces of EU legislation on hold to expire by default this year, without specifying the extent of the regulations in scope, seems absurd,” he said.
Stella Creasy, an opposition Labor MP who has teamed up with a cross-party group of MPs to limit the scope of the law, said the draft EU law dashboard held up as a transparency mechanism was a “charade” because it was true. incomplete.
“The authorities must demand a valid and complete list of laws that will be removed by this bill as a minimum to restore democracy,” he added.
BEIS, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: “The Government has been clear about its ambition to extend the UK’s Brexit freedoms by removing years of burdensome EU regulations, driving growth, innovation and competitiveness across the country, and improving the lives of everyone people’s day.”