The British government has announced that it will retain thousands of EU laws for at least the next two years, outlining new targets for the process, which has been significantly delayed, of removing EU laws from the English legislative record following Brexit. Initially, the UK aimed to eliminate all remaining EU laws by the end of 2023 but faced warnings from businesses regarding the legal implications and the bureaucratic chaos that could result.
Last May, the government abandoned this plan, proposing instead to repeal only about 600 of the remaining EU laws by the end of 2023. In an update on Monday, the government stated that it will "repeal or amend around 500 laws" in 2024 and hopes to review or repeal more than half of these laws by June 2026.
The Department for Business, Trade and Tourism noted in a report, "The government is on track to amend or repeal more than half of the total stock of remaining EU laws that have accumulated over more than 40 years during which the UK was a member of the Union by June 2026."
A government report on the remaining EU laws indicates that 33 percent of the 6,757 remaining laws have been amended, repealed, or replaced. Business, Trade and Tourism Secretary Kemi Badenoch stated that the government is "reducing the number of new regulations and ensuring that the broader regulatory landscape is effective and fit for purpose." In the introduction to the report, she remarked, "While much has been achieved in this regard, there is still much to be done."
