The EU (Withdrawal) Bill has received Royal Assent from Her Majesty the Queen and has become an Act of Parliament, the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The Act, which was also formerly referred to as the Great Repeal Bill, is necessary to ensure that the U.K.'s laws continue to operate from the day the U.K. exits the EU.
From the date of the U.K.'s exit from the EU, the Act will (i) end the supremacy of EU law in U.K. law by repealing the European Communities Act 1972; (ii) convert EU law as it stands at the moment of exit into domestic law before the U.K. leaves the EU; and (iii) maintain the current scope of devolved decision making powers in areas currently governed by EU law.
The Act also creates powers to make secondary legislation, including temporary powers to enable corrections to be made to the laws that would otherwise no longer operate appropriately once the U.K. has left the EU and to implement the withdrawal agreement under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The Government will now start work to begin laying before Parliament the expected 800 pieces of secondary legislation that will be required to prepare the U.K.'s statute book for EU withdrawal.
According to the Institute for Government, the two Houses of Parliament spent over 272 hours debating the original bill. The U.K. Government avoided defeats in the House of Commons by conceding on a number of issues. The Government rejected a number of high profile proposed amendments such as a proposed amendment to give Parliament power to approve a mandate for negotiations on the U.K.'s future relationship with the EU. The Government accepted one and made concessions on eight of the 15 amendments to the bill that were tabled by the House of Lords. The final Act differs from the originally tabled bill including in the following key areas:
View the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (2018 c.16).
View explanatory notes to the Act.
View our Client Note on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.
View the U.K. Regulators' announcements on their approaches.