Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to revoke certain retained EU law; to make provision relating to the interpretation of retained EU law and to its relationship with other law; to make provision relating to powers to modify retained EU law; to enable the restatement, replacement or updating of certain retained EU law; to enable the updating of restatements and replacement provision; to abolish the business impact target; and for connected purposes.
Citation2023 c. 28
Introduced byJacob Rees-Mogg, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Commons)
Baron Callanan, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility (Lords)
Territorial extent 
Dates
Royal assent29 June 2023
Commencement29 June 2023
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Records of Parliamentary debate relating to the statute from Hansard
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (c. 28) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to revoke certain legislation implementing European Union law in the UK (retained EU law), following the UK's exit from the European Union.[1]

Originally promoted by the government as the "Brexit Freedoms Bill" and introduced in Parliament in 2022,[2] the bill ran into significant opposition from many sources. In late April 2023, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch announced that the government was planning to reduce the number of laws to be repealed by 31 December 2023 to around 800, as opposed to the government's original target of around 4,000 laws.[3][4] Such reversal was met with dismay by Brexit advocates, including the Bill's original architect Jacob Rees-Mogg.[5] In May 2023, the Bill suffered further reverses as the House of Lords rejected a number of aspects of the proposed legislation.[6] On 29 June 2023, the bill received royal assent.[7] The act took effect on the 1st January 2024, as a result retained EU law supremacy has ended within the UK, and retained laws no longer need to be interpreted in line with EU law principles.[8]

Terminology

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Assimilated law

will be domestic law, which was previously REUL, but without the application of the EU law interpretive features applied to REUL by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“EUWA”), namely supremacy, general principles of EU law and rights retained under section 4 of EUWA

— Explanatory memorandum to Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023

Provisions

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According to the crossheadings, the act provides for:

  • Sunsets of retained EU law
  • Assimilation of retained EU law
  • Interpretation and effect of retained EU law
  • Modification of retained EU law
  • Powers relating to retained EU law and assimilated law
  • Retained EU law dashboard and report
  • Abolition of business impact target
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Main article: Legislative consent motion

Under the terms of devolution, the Government of the United Kingdom is required to invite the devolved administrations to indicate their consent (or not) to proposed legislation that would affect devolved matters. However, it is not required to be bound by them.

On 23 February 2023, the Scottish Parliament voted to refuse its consent to the bill.[9] On 28 March 2023, the Senedd of Wales voted to refuse its consent to the bill.[10]

The Northern Ireland Assembly had been in abeyance since May 2022 due to a Democratic Unionist Party boycott in a protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol. Consequently, it did not meet to consider a legislative consent motion.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  2. ^ "The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
  3. ^ Hope, Christopher (2023-04-27). "Tories to leave thousands of EU laws intact in latest Brexit betrayal". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  4. ^ O'Carroll, Lisa (2023-04-28). "Bonfire of EU laws watered down to just 800 after meeting of Brexiter MPs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  5. ^ Rees-Mogg, Jacob (2023-01-07). "Brexit is being surrendered to the declinist Europhile establishment". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  6. ^ "Brexit: Government suffers defeats over Retained EU Law Bill". BBC News. 2023-05-15. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  7. ^ "The Brexit Freedoms Bill touchpaper is lit". Shoosmiths. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Retained EU Law Reform: 12 December 2023". GOV.UK.
  9. ^ "Scottish Parliament refuses consent for Retained EU Law Bill". Scottish Government. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Senedd votes to refuse consent for Retained EU Law Bill" (Press release). Welsh Government. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
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