Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is tabled for the second reading in the House of Lords on 6th February 2023. The Bill will see the abandonment of multiple EU laws by the end of this year, unless specifically retained as UK law. PACTS has written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, to ask what analysis has been made by the Department for Transport of the transport safety impact of the Bill.
After 40 years of membership, there are many aspects of EU legislation that relate to road and rail safety in the UK. To review the hundreds of pieces of law and regulation before 31 December 2023 will be a huge task for civil servants, ministers and Parliament. PACTS is concerned that vital safety laws might be inadvertently lost, or even abandoned in a search for “Brexit benefits”.
Some of these requirements have been extremely beneficial in contributing to reducing death and serious injury on UK roads. Given that GB-type approval has been established by statutory instrument and with minimal Parliamentary scrutiny, PACTS is seeking a clear statement of the safety regulatory status of the GB-type approval scheme, with a description of what vehicle categories it is currently being applied to.
PACTS Executive Director David Davies said, “Transport safety laws form one of the biggest chunks of EU law that could be impacted by this Bill. To properly assess these laws in detail by December will be a huge task. We have asked the Transport Secretary for urgent clarification. We urge parliamentarians to insist that vital safeguards built up over years are not lost in a rush to ditch EU law.”
