The flame to start a bonfire of protections – the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

ClientEarth argues that the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill creates a 'cliff-edge' by providing for the automatic revocation of all retained EU law (REUL) by the end of 2023. The briefing identifies five fundamental flaws: the potential loss of critical protections for species, air, and water quality due to administrative neglect; legislative chaos and business uncertainty; the undermining of the rule of law through the use of secondary legislation without parliamentary oversight; the politicization of the judiciary; and a built-in deregulatory bias that may breach international obligations like the Aarhus Convention and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

• The Bill mandates the automatic revocation of all retained EU law (REUL) by December 31, 2023, unless specifically saved by ministers or devolved administrations, which ClientEarth claims reintroduces a 'regulatory cliff-edge'.
• Critical protections across multiple sectors are at risk of being lost due to the lack of an authoritative index of REUL and the implausibility of the government assessing thousands of items within a year. Examples include the Habitats Regulations for species protection, the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010, and the Water Framework Directive.
• The Bill grants ministers broad powers to amend or revoke law via secondary legislation, which ClientEarth asserts bypasses parliamentary scrutiny and threatens the separation of powers.
• The legislation introduces mechanisms that may drag courts into the political sphere, including allowing higher courts to depart from case law if it restricts the 'proper development of domestic law' and allowing the government to join proceedings as a party.
• Clause 15 embeds a deregulatory bias by prohibiting the replacement of REUL if the change increases the 'regulatory burden', defined to include financial costs and obstacles to profitability.
• The Bill's structure may lead to breaches of international obligations, specifically the Aarhus Convention regarding public participation in environmental rulemaking and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement's non-regression clause on environmental and climate protection.

APA

Eames, A. (2022). The flame to start a bonfire of protections – the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/wzjkts5a/retained-eu-law-revocation-and-reform-bill-article-ce-template-final.pdf

Chicago

Eames, Angus. The flame to start a bonfire of protections – the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. ClientEarth, 2022. https://www.clientearth.org/media/wzjkts5a/retained-eu-law-revocation-and-reform-bill-article-ce-template-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Eames |first1=Angus |title=The flame to start a bonfire of protections – the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill |publisher=ClientEarth |date=3 November 2022 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/wzjkts5a/retained-eu-law-revocation-and-reform-bill-article-ce-template-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{eames2022flame, author = {Eames, Angus}, title = {{The flame to start a bonfire of protections – the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/wzjkts5a/retained-eu-law-revocation-and-reform-bill-article-ce-template-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }