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20 June 2017

Financial Times: New EU laws make UK’s complex Brexit ever more difficult


A further 1,260 rules might be applicable by the point of departure in March 2019, highlighting the scale and complexity of the task facing the government when it begins the process of deciding which European legislation to keep or scrap.

On average, 60 EU regulations and directives have been added to the British statute book every month since June 2016, according to research by the legal division of Thomson Reuters.

That adds to the estimated 19,000 EU regulations, directives and other rules that are already part of UK law.

If that rate continues until the end of March 2019, the anticipated time of Britain’s departure from the EU, a further 1,260 European laws will have become applicable in the UK by the point of Brexit.

“While we’re negotiating an exit [from the EU], the amount of legislation arising out of our membership is increasing all the time,” said Daniel Greenberg, counsel for domestic legislation in the House of Commons. “More water is flowing into the tub at the same time as we are getting ready to pull the plug.”

The number and range of European laws introduced since the Brexit referendum illustrates the potential for some of these regulations and directives to pose obstacles during the UK’s negotiations to leave the EU.

According to Thomson Reuters, the new laws touch on a huge variety of matters, from management of deep-sea fish stocks in the Atlantic to expanded sanctions against North Korea. [...]

Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)



© Financial Times


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