Retained EU law: your thoughts matter
Date published:
We are currently asking for members to give us their thoughts on what EU laws we inherited should be kept or changed. As it stands, we run the real risk of seeing important EU laws being scrapped if our member’s voices aren’t heard.
The Retained EU Law Bill is set to change, keep, or scrap, the laws we have kept from being part of the European Union. The cause for concern is that there is a sunset clause, which means if laws haven’t been debated in parliament by the end of 2023, they will automatically be kept, or scrapped, without any consultation.
Additionally, these laws (known as Retained EU Law, or REUL) don’t need a vote to be kept, changed, or scrapped. Any decision is made via statutory instrument, which means there is no voting involved. This means all changes will be made based on the feedback government receives from businesses.
This Retained EU Law Bill covers over 2,400 laws. this means there is a real chance that not all laws will be discussed fully.
Laws affecting employment rights, product regulation, environmental standards and more are in consideration following Brexit. This could affect a range of businesses- both domestically and for those who trade globally. More information on the Retained EU Law Bill can be found in our need-to-know document for members.
Here at the Chamber, we believe that businesses should be able to trade without worry, and that employees deserve good work. The challenges businesses are facing through Brexit and Covid are already considerable. Therefore, it is crucial that no more barriers are created by this Bill.
We want to make sure that our member’s voices are heard, so that the relevant laws aren’t overlooked. The British Chambers of Commerce have said that if we can get member’s concerns to them before Christmas, then they will be able to feed this back to the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy directly.
The policy team and the global team have outlined what sectors may be most affected, and how we plan to make our member’s concerns heard. If you’re a member who is concerned about how this might affect your business, and want your thoughts to be included in our work, then please get in touch at [email protected] by the 10th of December.