Prime Minister unveils plans for Great Repeal Act and rattles business community with hints government is favouring 'hard Brexit' approach
Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed the vast array of EU environmental regulation will continue to apply in the UK post-Brexit, while raising the prospect such rules could be repealed or reformed once the country has left the bloc.
During an eventful first day at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham yesterday, May confirmed the government would bring forward a Great Repeal Act that would effectively transfer all existing EU law into UK domestic law.
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She said the move would give "businesses and workers maximum certainty as we leave the European Union".
However, any attempt to reassure businesses about the impact of the Brexit process was quickly diluted as May said the government would treat securing controls on immigration and an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice as its priority during the upcoming Brexit negotiations - a move that was interpreted as meaning the government favours a 'hard Brexit' approach that could see it locked out of the single market.
She also confirmed plans to enact Article 50 - triggering the two year exit process - before the end of March next year, sparking criticism from pro-EU MPs and businesses that she could be rushing the complex process.
The pound dropped to its lowest level in weeks this morning in early trading as traders responded to the news.
Speaking on the opening day of the conference, May explained the Great Repeal Bill would minimise any disruption as the UK leaves the EU. However, she also stressed that EU legislation that will be adopted in UK law could then be changed in the future.
"As we repeal the European Communities Act, we will convert the 'acquis' - that is, the body of existing EU law - into British law," she explained. "When the Great Repeal Bill is given Royal Assent, Parliament will be free - subject to international agreements and treaties with other countries and the EU on matters such as trade - to amend, repeal and improve any law it chooses. But by converting the acquis into British law, we will give businesses and workers maximum certainty as we leave the European Union. The same rules and laws will apply to them after Brexit as they did before. Any changes in the law will have to be subject to full scrutiny and proper Parliamentary debate."
The proposal will offer some reassurances to businesses governed by a host of EU environmental regulations covering everything from air quality, chemicals reporting, and renewable energy to product labelling, energy efficiency standards, and habitat protection.
May's reminder Parliament would still be subject to "international agreements and treaties" offers further reassurance that the government will have to continue to deliver on climate targets and other environmental goals, given the UK's support for the Paris Agreement, the Montreal Protocol, and other environmental treaties.
However, experts warned the Great Repeal Bill would face significant complexities as the government will have to address how EU regulations transferred into UK law will then be amended and enforced once the UK exits the EU and potentially loses access to its institutions and agencies.
There are also ongoing fears Brexit could trigger a watering down of some key EU environmental rules following the passage of the Repeal Bill, after several leading Leave campaigners called for the repeal of the Habitats Directive during the referendum campaign.
May said that post-Brexit "existing workers' legal rights will continue to be guaranteed in law - and they will be guaranteed as long as I am Prime Minister". But she made no mention of environmental or other regulations, and the government provided no examples of which workers rights May was referencing.
May also sparked concerns among those businesses that trade with the EU, offering her clearest indication yet she wants a full break with many of the EU's membership requirements, including freedom of movement and shared product labelling standards.
"We are going to leave the EU," she said. "We are going to be a fully-independent, sovereign country, a country that is no longer part of a political union with supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts. And that means we are going, once more, to have the freedom to make our own decisions on a whole host of different matters, from how we label our food to the way in which we choose to control immigration.
"We will seek the best deal possible as we negotiate a new agreement with the European Union," she added. "I want that deal to reflect the kind of mature, cooperative relationship that close friends and allies enjoy. I want it to include cooperation on law enforcement and counter-terrorism work. I want it to involve free trade, in goods and services. I want it to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market - and let European businesses do the same here. But let me be clear. We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice."
Today attention turns to the economy and the environment, with speeches due from Chancellor Philip Hammond, Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, and Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom.
Green businesses will be hoping for some indication from Clark and Hammond on the nature of the new low carbon industrial strategy the government is currently working on, while environmental campaigners will be keen to get some steer on the government's currently thinking on Heathrow expansion and its promised new plan for nature.
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