Competition and Trade: Regulation

(asked on 2nd February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has taken steps to review the corpus of retained EU law and other UK regulations for the purposes of (a) identifying potential negative impact on (i) trade and (ii) competition and (b) prioritising for change those for which a potential negative impact is identified; what estimate he has made of the time it will take to complete such a review; and whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to implement changes identified.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 10th February 2022

The Prime Minister announced on 31 January that the Government is taking steps to ensure that any retained EU law on the UK statute book meets the UK’s priorities for unlocking growth and is tailored to the needs of the UK.

Defra is fully engaged with the Government’s work to amend, replace or repeal all the retained EU law that is not right for the UK. Defra has an important role to play in that process.

Along with other Government departments and the Brexit Opportunities Unit, we are currently taking stock of our retained EU law. We will then publish information on retained EU law, in line with the Government commitment.

This work is planned to support the development of the ‘Brexit Freedoms’ Bill, also announced on 31 January. This bill will mean that retained EU law can be more easily amended or removed.

My department is committed to making the most of our new-found freedoms outside the EU in Defra policy areas. An effective, ambitious programme of regulatory reform is critical to making that happen.

Where suitable and necessary we are prioritising this reform and our legislative plans to deliver this will be announced in due course.

Reticulating Splines