This item is developing – comment has started to emerge (see below) – no word yet on whether the exit from the London Convention on fishing access has been triggered – Daniel Owen has forwarded to me this very helpful background piece. 

Institute for Government Outlines Process and Terminology Report – see below

Great Repeal Bill White Paper published

UK Gvt ‘The Great Repeal Bill White Paper sets out the government’s proposals for ensuring a functioning statute book once the UK has left the European Union.

It provides the detail about:

• the repeal of the European Communities Act 1972
• how EU law will be converted into UK law
• how corrections will be made to the statute book, to ensure the law continues to function once we have left the EU

As the UK leaves the European Union, find out about the government’s Plan for Britain.’

March 29^th 2017 will go down in our history. If you’d like to read the letter click here

The Institute for Government Paper spells out the general elements of the process and terminology, and scale of the challenge.

The Great Repeal Bill and the wider legislative challenge

Institute for Government ‘Up to 15 new bills in addition to the Great Repeal Bill could be required to deliver Brexit. Legislating Brexit warns that Brexit will place a huge burden on both parliament and government departments. It says on average each Queen’s Speech only announces twenty new bills, so 15 new Brexit bills before the UK even exits will leave very little space for non-Brexit related legislation.

Departments will need ruthlessly to prioritise other legislation and indeed find non-legislative approaches to achieve policy aims where possible, particularly in the context of the Government’s narrow Commons majority. The paper warns the extent of legislative change required will inevitably lead to the Government using different routes to make Brexit-related changes – such as using secondary legislation to amend primary legation (so-called ‘Henry VIII powers’) – that are subject to less parliamentary scrutiny.

Because of this, the paper argues, the Government should resist the temptation to introduce non-essential changes in the repeal Bill. Instead, the priority should be to copy across the acquis (the body of European Union law), which can be amended after Brexit. The paper also makes several recommendations for how the Government should manage Brexit-related Bills, including publishing white papers with full impact assessments, and scheduling the legislative programme to allow the timely passage of the secondary legislation needed before exit.

The authors make several recommendations for Parliamentarians. Both the Commons and the Lords must get involved at an early stage, pressing the Government to publish white papers and introduce bills in draft wherever possible. They must also time their evidence sessions and reports carefully to maximise impact on new areas of policy.’

Legislating Brexit infographic

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/legislating-brexit 

Great Repeal Bill raises environmental concerns for green groups

31 March 2017, source edie newsroom ‘The Government’s white paper for the Great Repeal Bill has faced criticism from green groups for failing to guarantee that existing environmental laws will be maintained as primary legislation post-Brexit. The document was published (30 March), a day after the UK officially invoked Article 50 to begin the EU departure process. The white paper contains a pledge to preserve the whole body of EU environmental law immediately after the UK’s departure to provide “maximum certainty” for businesses. It also implies that product standards will remain in place to foster EU trade negotiations. The text does not, however, rule out the future possibility to amend, repeal or reverse European green regulations, stressing that any potential changes will be consulted on through parliamentary scrutiny.

Green experts have warned that the absence of a tangible commitment to convert environmental laws into primary legislation could wreck the Government’s aim to “become the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it”. “The Government’s white paper is far too ambiguous and fails to guarantee existing environmental laws will be safely kept on our statute books as primary legislation,” ClientEarth chief executive James Thornton said.

“Unfortunately this creates more uncertainty to businesses and for the millions of people across the country who want their natural environment protected. The Prime Minister promised to leave the environment better off for the next generation. This is a high ambition but if she weakens the laws that safeguard our environment she will break that promise.”

What we learnt from the Great repeal bill white paper – Institute for Government