Sunset clause scrapped

In a major U-turn last month, the UK Government announced that it would abandon the Bill’s sunset clause, which would have automatically bulldozed all Retained EU Law at the end of this year. This threatened to wipe UK statute books of hundreds of vital laws that exist to protect nature and people in the UK, with no requirement that these be replaced.

We won’t be congratulating the UK Government for its decision to stop doing something it should never have even thought about in the first place.

Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts

Despite this U-turn, The Wildlife Trusts remain concerned about a number of provisions within the REUL Bill; the future of hundreds of laws relating to species, habitats, air and water quality currently hang in the balance.

Moreover, the far-reaching powers that this Bill gives UK Government ministers to review, reform and revoke EU laws has serious implications for the autonomy of devolved governments. With no Parliamentary scrutiny or requirement that experts be consulted, all four nations of the UK will be subject to a fundamentally undemocratic process of closed-door decision making that could weaken vital safeguards. The Bill also threatens the implementation of devolved legislation, undermining the ability of decision makers in each government to align policies with the specific needs and priorities of their citizens.

Rachel Sharp, Director of Wildlife Trusts Wales says:

The people of Wales will be losing access to the democratic process as none of their elected members, be they MP or MS, will have a say in scrapping hundreds of laws. The REUL Bill also directly compromises the ability of the Senedd to achieve the goals set out in its Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, as it puts economic growth before all other sustainability principles.

Jo Pike, Chief Executive of Scottish Wildlife Trust says:

The REUL Bill poses a significant threat to Scotland's ability to regulate impacts on nature. Despite the recent U-turn on the sunset clause, we remain deeply concerned about the implications of this legislation. We urge the UK Government to recognise the importance of parliamentary scrutiny, expert consultation, and devolved legislation in safeguarding Scotland's nature and wildlife.

Jennifer Fulton, Chief Executive of Ulster Wildlife, says:

Regardless of intention, the move away from retained EU laws will create additional challenges in NI compared to the other devolved administrations. NI shares a land border with Ireland which remains in the EU, and current comparable legislation and processes enables effective co-operation across habitats that cross international borders. Declining species and impacts of climate change don’t recognise political borders and divergence in standards will not promote joined up efforts on nature’s recovery at a landscape scale.

Nature conservation is only one of a wide range of issues that will be affected by REUL in Northern Ireland, where peace and prosperity is based on seamless integration with both GB and Ireland.

The Wildlife Trusts continue to support Lord Krebs’ Amendment 15 and Lord Anderson’s amendments 6 and 42, which would commit the UK Government to ‘non-regression’, preventing any watering down of environmental legislation. They would also require that UK Government Ministers seek expert advice, such as that of the Office for Environmental Protection, prior to making any changes to retained EU Law. The UK Government would also then be required to publish a report detailing the advice they received and justifying how any changes to retained EU law do not reduce environmental protections.

Next week the Bill returns to the House of Commons, where MPs will once again have the opportunity to accept the Lords amendments.