MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

British PM wants to scrap EU red tape incorporated to UK legislation

Without the new bill, reforming and repealing EU law would take years, Johnson's Government has explained

The Government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is devising a so-called “Brexit Freedoms” bill to scrap European Union regulations which were introduced into local legislation before departing from the bloc, it was announced Monday.

A statement from the Prime Minister's office Monday explained the reforms would help supress expenditures in the amount of £ 1-bn stemming from bureaucratic European regulations. Despite the positive aspects of the plan, Johnson has been accused of rushing out half-baked strategies to shore up support from the ranks of his own Conservative Party as scandals mounted regarding lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street.

The Government also said the new bill would “ensure that changes can be made more easily, so that the UK can capitalize on Brexit freedoms more quickly.” The UK has retained many EU laws since leaving the bloc in January 2020, with Tory Brexiteers pushing for the government to take advantage of Britain’s new status.

Former cabinet minister Lord David Frost said in November that “we have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the European Union from Britain with Brexit, only to import that European model after all this time,” with thousands of EU laws and regulations still in force in Britain after Brexit.

Reforming and repealing EU law would take several years, while the new bill is intended to make changes speedier and in Britain's best interests.

“Our new Brexit Freedoms Bill will end the special status of EU law in our legal framework and ensure that we can more easily amend or remove outdated EU law in future,” Johnson's statement went on.

The government said it would also publish a document on how it plans to capitalize on Brexit to make changes to its regulatory framework and to cut red tape. The plans include establishing a data rights regime, improving public procurement, setting up a domestic subsidy control regime to support the UK economy, and reducing reporting burdens for small and medium-sized companies.

The Conservative administration also wants to drift apart from the EU in artificial intelligence, data protection and clinical trials for new drugs.