FIN.

Government publishes Great Repeal Bill White Paper

As promised, the Department for Exiting the EU has set out the Government’s proposals for making sure the UK statute book will continue to function once Brexit has taken place. As has been well documented, the plan is to convert the “acquis” into UK law at the moment the UK repeals the European Communities Act. This will mean the same rules apply the day after Brexit as apply on the day before, which will give certainty before the Government considers what changes may be appropriate in the future. The Government proposes to introduce the Great Repeal Bill in the next parliamentary session. Since not all EU legislation will make sense if it is just copied over, there will be a power to rectify the statute book where necessary to address this sort of problem, as well as to allow the devolved administrations to make changes to appropriate devolved laws where appropriate.  The Government needs to progress the changes as it is negotiating Brexit, so is trying to provide the necessary mixture of certainty and flexibility.

Emma Radmore