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Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union Glossary of terms |
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The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. Initially proposed as the Great Repeal Bill, its passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.
The Act is to enable "cutting off the source of EU law in the UK ... and remove the competence of EU institutions to legislate for the UK".[1] The 2017–2019 Government of Theresa May regarded it as the most significant constitutional legislation to have been passed by Parliament since the European Communities Act itself in 1972.[1]
To provide legal continuity, the Act enables the transposition of directly-applicable already-existing EU law into UK law,[2] and so "create a new category of domestic law for the United Kingdom: retained EU law" (also known as "REUL").[1][3] It also gives the government some restricted power to adapt and remove laws that are no longer relevant.
It makes future ratification of the withdrawal agreement, as a treaty between the UK and EU, depend upon the prior enactment of another Act of Parliament to approve the final terms of withdrawal when Brexit negotiations are completed. It fixed 21 January 2019 (at the latest) as the day on which the government must decide on how to proceed if the negotiations had not reached agreement in principle, on both the withdrawal arrangements and the framework for the future relationship between the UK and EU, and for parliamentary debate on this Government decision.
The Act was one of a number of planned pieces of legislation affecting international transactions and control of borders, including movement of goods.[4]
The Act came fully into force on Friday 31 January 2020 at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, although it was amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 which saved the effect of the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA 1972) during the implementation period and formally ratified and incorporated the Withdrawal Agreement into domestic law after the United Kingdom formally left the European Union.
- ^ a b c Simson Caird, Jack; Miller, Vaughne; Lang, Arabella (1 September 2017). European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (PDF). Commons Briefing Papers: CBP-8079. House of Commons Library. Summary.
- ^ Stewart, Heather (12 July 2017). "Labour threat to defeat Theresa May over Brexit bill". The Guardian.
- ^ Cabinet Office, Retained EU law dashboard, published 22 June 2022, accessed 16 September 2022
- ^ "Factbox - Britain's Brexit legislation: What is left to do ahead of EU exit?" Reuters, 17 April 2018.