What are the implications of the Retained EU Law (REUL) on the engineering & technology sector?

At the IET we are looking to comment on the Retained EU Law (REUL), which is having its 2nd reading in the House of Lords on 6 February, having already progressed through the House of Commons.  The essence of the Bill is that EU law that has been adopted in the UK will automatically expire on 31 December 2023 unless specifically retained by the UK.  REUL also gives more extensive power to Ministers to decide what laws to retain without the usual parliamentary scrutiny.

I’d like to get your thoughts on the potential impact of REUL in your own sector, with specific evidence where possible.  My questions are:

  1. Does the prospect of losing EU law have direct / indirect implications for your engineering / technology sector?
  2. If so, in which particular areas, to what extent and who will it impact?
  3. Would you welcome the deregulation of engineering and technology safety practices?
  4. What are your suggestions on the best way forward with the legislation?

 Thank you for your responses.

Parents
  • I had a look at the effect on us in the rail sector when this was first announced, and so far cannot find any impact at all. Every "EU" regulation I can find that affects us has been adopted into UK law anyway, so would not be affected. (A huge amount of it was based on UK practice anyway!)

    I can't imagine much public appetite for deregulating safety in our industry. 

    Best way forward with legislation (again thinking of the rail industry): as far as possible keep it compatible with EU legislation. Otherwise suppliers have to comply with two different sets of regulation, which is extremely expensive and adds little real value.

  • I'm not so sure. There are probably many environmental elements to the train industry that will effect Engineering policies & regulations. 
    Then there is the blue passport ministers who will change things just to separate the GB from the EU, maybe reintroduce inches or perhaps a rod!
    but lets face it they haven't sorted the UKCA mark out yet or should that be the GBCA mark as NI will have its own Slight smile.

Reply
  • I'm not so sure. There are probably many environmental elements to the train industry that will effect Engineering policies & regulations. 
    Then there is the blue passport ministers who will change things just to separate the GB from the EU, maybe reintroduce inches or perhaps a rod!
    but lets face it they haven't sorted the UKCA mark out yet or should that be the GBCA mark as NI will have its own Slight smile.

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