REGULATION
The Status of European Union
Waste Law after Brexit
in the United Kingdom Vincent Brown, Solicitor specialising in waste and environmental law and practice
The day after the UK leaves the European Union, businesses might be wondering about the future status of current European Union waste law and regulation in the UK. European law such as the status of the Waste Framework Directive, REACH, CLP, the Industrial Emissions Directive or the Hazardous Waste Regulation amongst others, have all become part of the compliance landscape within which UK businesses have operated for many years.
These waste regulations have been built up into a body of EU law which have been adopted by the United Kingdom since it first joined the European Community in 1972. Decoupling more than forty years of applied law and regulation which makes up a significant part of UK law, in a matter of two short years, is no small matter.
The current Bill to formalise the United Kingdom’s (UK) departure from the European Union (EU) is currently making its way through the Parliament.
44 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.143 FEBRUARY 2018
Known as the ‘EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017,’ the Bill is currently at the ‘committee’ stage which allows Members of Parliament to scrutinise its contents including tabling motions to amend the current draft.
One of the points of contention is the inclusion of a specific time and date of the UK’s exit from the EU, that of Friday 29th March 2019 at 11pm (2300 hours GMT). The date set is the anniversary of the UK’s two year notice to leave the EU under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which was formally served on 29th March 2017.
Members of Parliament are concerned that, although Article 50 allows for an extension of the two-year notice period if all EU member states agree, the inclusion of the date in the Bill essentially closes off this opportunity to both parties. In the absence of any significant progress in talks to conclude a trading relationship between the EU and the UK, or to agree the size of the divorce bill, this seems to be a limiting measure.
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