European Scrutiny Committees Call to Evidence on Regulating after Brexit

ClientEarth argues that the UK government is trending toward deregulation after Brexit, replacing mandatory environmental rules with voluntary schemes and guidance. The submission highlights critical gaps in regulating nitrogen pollution, ammonia emissions, and pesticides, and warns that the shift away from enforceable regulation threatens the 'Green Brexit' goals and the health of England's rivers and air.

• The UK government is exhibiting a trend toward deregulation by replacing mandatory environmental protections with private voluntary schemes, administrative guidance, and policy statements, which ClientEarth argues are inadequate substitutes for an enforceable regulatory framework.
• Current regulations to control agricultural pollution in England are largely ineffective due to a systemic lack of monitoring and enforcement action.
• The UK's approach to nitrogen pollution is fragmented and 'siloed', leaving significant regulatory gaps, particularly regarding ammonia emissions from agriculture where committed legislation has been abandoned in favor of voluntary industry measures.
• Post-Brexit amendments have weakened the regulation of pesticides by extending the review period for maximum residue levels from 12 to 36 months and removing the requirement for expert committee scrutiny of certain amendments.
• There is currently no regulatory framework in the UK to protect soil health, despite its importance for food security, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration.
• The transition from the EU Common Agricultural Policy to the Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) risks losing critical environmental protections because ELMS lacks the 'cross-compliance' requirements of the previous model.

APA

ClientEarth (2022). European Scrutiny Committees Call to Evidence on Regulating after Brexit. https://www.clientearth.org/media/u1mlm2zt/european-scrutiny-committee-call-for-evidence-clientearth-response-final-1.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. European Scrutiny Committees Call to Evidence on Regulating after Brexit. 2022. https://www.clientearth.org/media/u1mlm2zt/european-scrutiny-committee-call-for-evidence-clientearth-response-final-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=European Scrutiny Committees Call to Evidence on Regulating after Brexit |date=July 2022 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/u1mlm2zt/european-scrutiny-committee-call-for-evidence-clientearth-response-final-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2022european, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{European Scrutiny Committees Call to Evidence on Regulating after Brexit}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2022}, month = jul, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/u1mlm2zt/european-scrutiny-committee-call-for-evidence-clientearth-response-final-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }