by December it will be possible to review 3,745 pieces of legislation

Any of those where the process of drafting a UK equivalent has not already started, I suggest the answer is 'no', or at least 'not very well' . Those organizations that started thinking properly before or even shortly after Brexit was confirmed, which I fear is not as many areas as it should be, are probably OK.

But, seatbelts and food, the UK wireless telegraphy act and modifications, and the frequency plan will not cease to exist, even if the legislation behind harmonsing those is indeed on the 'we did not believe Brexit had happened and could not be bothered to get started drafting our own' list. Actually I suspect those specific examples are too high profile and are not examples where the thought process has not begun. 

Some legislation may of course vanish, but it will be the small beer stuff that is not replaced, and  existing kit and activities will not cease in December, if indeed that deadline does not move. There is already at least one  proposed modification to kick it all out another 5 years.

I agree this is a mess, I disagree that confronting it is a problem.

Mike

Ministers to ditch deadline to scrap retained EU laws - BBC News

I'm glad and relieved that the Government has decided to drop the arbitrary 31 December 2023 sunset clause.  Now there can be a proper process for the review of particular laws, consulting with industry and academic experts to ensure any amendments to legislation meet the needs of the UK, its people and its economy.

mapj1 said:

I agree this is a mess, I disagree that confronting it is a problem.

Hi Mike,

Apologies for the late reply, I got distracted by some engineering...I agree absolutely that it's worth reviewing these laws, what I strongly disagreed with (past tense following today's news) was setting an arbitrary and unachievable date by which they would be scrapped if not reviewed. I believe (as a number of pretty responsible organisations also believed) that at least one of two scenarios would occur: importing legislation into UK law would be rushed through and mistakes would be made, and / or legislation would get scrapped with no review. I'm afraid I don't share your optimism that the important bits of legislation are already being reviewed - remember that other than this bill there is currently no reason to review them. 

The revised proposal, to identify which of these regulations may be superfluous, or "bad law", or potentially simply not wanted in the UK, and then to review those, seems a very sensible approach.

Thanks,

Andy 

Here’s an update on developments today.

The IET posted some details about REUL developments on LinkedIn and Twitter.  The statements were cutdown versions of the text below:

'The IET gained many positive messages of support from a range of Peers across the political spectrum for the evidence that it circulated ahead of the Retained EU Law Committee Stage in the Lords in February.

We welcome the Government’s decision to drop plans to allow thousands of very important EU-related laws to automatically lapse at the end of 2023.  Its new approach will now allow adequate time for consultation and review by technical experts of the impact of repealing EU legislation. The IET looks forward to continuing to work with the Government, and with a number of like-minded engineering and safety organisations, to ensure appropriate laws are in place that continue to support the engineering and technology sectors.'

Kemi Badenoch’s gave a statement of the policy change yesterday Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.  A policy paper (Smarter regulation to grow the economy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ) has also been posted, which gives a steer as to regulations that may be amended / repealed.

The Report stage is due to start in the House of Lords on 15 May, so I hope we get clarity soon on the 600 or so pieces of legislation that are being considered for sunsetting at the end of 2023.  There are a range of  Amendments (Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (parliament.uk)) for consideration though no doubt some will change in the light of current activity.

Seems the minster didn't quite manage to make that announcement correctly either: BBC News - Watch minister get angry telling-off for media leaks

  - Andy.

Hmmm....there is so much politics involved here it could have been incorrect, or there could have been wounded pride on the other side, or it could all be just politics. Personally I can't get very excited about the posturing on this one, provided it doesn't get in the way of a diligent review process of the regulations themselves.

The proposed amendments for the Lords' Report stage are now available at HL Bill 117—I (parliament.uk) .  The amendments include a proposal to replace the sunset deadline of 31 December 2023 with 31 December 2028 (Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, amendment 3) and for EU law to remain on the statute books by default, so that only legislation identified and approved by Parliament is revoked (Baroness Chapman of Darlington et al, amendment 6).

Let's see what happens at the session on Monday 15th.

Here’s a list of the laws the have been scheduled for sunsetting by 31 Dec 2023. There’s a write up in the Guardian about which laws will be affected.  The article also states:

'(...) On Monday night [15 May], in a further government defeat, peers backed by 142 votes to 132 a provision to ensure ministerial powers to revoke, replace or update retained EU law do not undermine current environmental protections or food safety standards.

The government has narrowly seen off a move to add procedural protections of workers’ rights by a majority of one.

(…) On Monday peers including more than a dozen Conservatives to amend the bill to include a requirement that any laws going through the shredder go before a joint committee in both Houses of Parliament with a debate and vote.

Enjoy reading through the list!