Retained EU Law Bill Update: No Sunset in Sight
Date published:
On Wednesday the 10th of May, the newly established Department for Business and Trade announced it would be making changes to the highly topical Retained EU Law Bill. Whilst the Bill previously had a sunset clause in place for 2023, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch has announced that this deadline will no longer be in place.
For those that aren’t aware, the Retained EU Law Bill was designed to formalise the removal, amendment, or continuation of all the laws the UK has inherited from its former membership of the EU. The Government had set an ambitious deadline of the 31st of December 2023 for over 3,800 laws (and potentially counting) to be considered. If the deadline was not met, any laws not considered would be automatically kept, or repealed using a sunset clause.
Since the early stages of the Retained EU Law Bill we’ve been clear that the voice of businesses and our members must be heard in deciding what laws to keep, change, or get rid of. Alongside our colleagues at the British Chambers of Commerce, we have advocated for an extension of the sunset clause to 2026, to ensure that employer engagement can be done effectively and comprehensively.
The news announced last week creates the potential for a detailed, employer-focused approach to amending EU law. It’s a step in the right direction for giving our region’s exporters certainty, at a time where they will already be preparing for upcoming changes in environmental regulations and documentation.
If you want to feed into our work with the Chamber network on the Bill, get in touch with us at [email protected]