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Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement:
The following sections of the Act will commence on Royal Assent (30th December 2020):
The other provisions will commence on the day or days appointed by regulations.
Amends:
This Act implements into legislation ‘Agreements‘ that have been agreed between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) following the UK’s departure from the EU:
The Act is required to implement the Agreements for them to have domestic legal effect and to enable the UK Government to consent to the Agreements. It also enables the implementation of future arrangements and agreements.
The applicability to health and safety relates to Part 2 of the Act, specifically disclosure and sharing of non-food product safety information within the UK and with the EU.
Non-food product safety information includes the compliance of products, as well as whether they are safe, and the information listed in Article TBT.9(3) of the TCA and information under the Annexes on chemicals and motor vehicles to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement:
This Act provides a way for the UK to share non-food product safety information received from the European Commission with the ‘appropriate person‘ so that the information can be used for the protection of consumers and others.
Where a relevant authority, i.e. a Government Minister or the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), receives non-food product safety information from the European Commission, they can disclose non-food product safety information received from the EU for a permitted purpose. The following are permitted purposes:
There is no restriction on who the information can be shared with, provided it is for the permitted purpose. In practice, it is expected that this information will be shared with public authorities, such as market surveillance authorities and the Crown Dependencies, as part of their inclusion in the TCA.
A person who receives non-food product safety information from the EU may only use the information for a permitted purpose and is not able to further disclose the information except with the consent of the relevant authority.
The Act also provides a way for a Government Minister or the HSE to share with the European Commission information which relates to non-food product safety for the purpose of the TCA. The TCA establishes contact points through which this information will be exchanged between the UK Government and the European Commission.
There are no direct compliance duties for organisations in this Act.
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Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: Immediately before IP completion day, the end of the implementation period of the UK leaving the EU.
Amends: Regulation (EC) 166/2006 on the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register
The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) is established in the form of a publicly accessible electronic database, containing information on pollutant releases to air, water and land, etc. Operators of regulated industries must report their releases and transfers to the European Commission.
Updates are made to The Air Quality (Miscellaneous Amendment and Revocation of Retained Direct EU Legislation) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 to further amend Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 concerning the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (‘PRTR Regulation’).
The EU has made amendments to the PRTR Regulation since the 2018 amendment was produced that need to be correctly implemented in the retained version of the Regulation to ensure it continues to operate effectively following the end of the Brexit implementation period; namely, Regulation (EU) 2019/1010 on the alignment of reporting obligations in the field of legislation related to the environment (see summary of amendment below) and Decision (EU) 2019/1741 establishing the format and frequency of data to be made available by the Member States for the purposes of reporting.
There are no changes to duties as a result of these additional amendments to the retained PRTR Regulation.
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Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: IP completion day
Amends:
The Climate Change Agreements (Amendment of Agreements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 set out the eligibility criteria for facilities wishing to enter into Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) in order to receive a discount on their Climate Change Levy (CCL). The CCl is a tax on electricity, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and solid fuels supplied to the business and public sectors. The CCA scheme was introduced in order to allow certain energy intensive businesses to pay a reduced rate of CCL in return for entering into sector-energy specific energy efficiency agreements.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (CRC), formerly the carbon reduction commitment, is designed to promote energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in the UK. CRC targets emissions that are not included within Climate Change Agreements (CCA) or the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 introduce the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme which is a mandatory energy assessment and energy saving identification scheme for large undertakings and their corporate groups. All must audit their energy use every four years.
The Climate Change Agreements (Amendment of Agreements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
The 2018 Regulations are amended to change the term ‘exit day*’ to ‘IP completion day**’ (in relation the UK leaving the EU). This means the 2018 Regulations will come into force on IP completion day instead of exit day. This does not make any changes to duties.
*Exit day was 31st January 2020.
**IP completion day is the day the transition period ends (31st December 2020).
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
The 2018 Regulations are amended to change the term ‘exit day*’ to ‘IP completion day**’ (in relation to the UK leaving the EU). This means the 2018 Regulations will come into force on IP completion day instead of exit day. This does not make any changes to duties.
*Exit day was 31st January 2020.
**IP completion day is the day the transition period ends (31st December 2020).
The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
The 2018 Regulations converted the financial thresholds for ESOS from euros to pounds sterling to reflect the UK’s exit from the EU. This conversion originally applied from exit day* but this has now been updated to be relevant from IP completion day**.
*Exit day was 31st January 2020.
**IP completion day is the day the transition period ends (31st December 2020).
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Jurisdiction: England, Scotland, Wales
Commencement: IP completion day
Amends:
1) Harbours Act 1964
The Harbours Act 1964 sets out the requirements for harbour revision orders and harbour empowerment orders.
Harbour revision orders are used to change the legislation governing the management of a harbour. Harbour empowerment orders are mainly concerned with building new harbours and or creating harbour authorities responsible for improving, maintaining and managing them.
2) Highways Act 1980
The Highways Act 1980 sets out powers of different classes of highway authorities. It defines their powers for the creation and maintenance of highways, their adoption and recovery of costs, control over interference with the highway, stopping up and regulation of use.
1) Amendment of the Harbours Act 1964 (c.40)
These Regulations come into force on the day the UK leaves the European Union (EU). The 1964 Act is amended to ensure that the processes and procedures for undertaking environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for major harbour schemes will continue to work effectively following the UK’s exit from the EU.
References to EU legislation and institutions are replaced; specifically ‘Member States’ are changed to ‘Secretary of State’, references to ‘Union law’ are changed to ‘retained EU law’ and references to European Economic Area (EEA) are amended to reflect that the UK will no longer be a member of the EEA. There are no changes made to the environmental impact assessment (EIA) regimes for major harbour schemes in Great Britain.
Note that legislation expressed as coming into force on ‘exit day’ (31st January 2020), has been postponed until the end of the ‘implementation period’ (i.e. the transition period which follows Brexit). This postponement is made by Schedule 5 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 [2020 Chapter 1]. Therefore, any provisions expressed above as coming into force on ‘exit day’ will not now come into force until the end of the ‘implementation period’.
2) Amendment of the Highways Act 1980 (c.66)
These Regulations come into force on the day the UK leaves the European Union (EU). The 1980 Act is amended to ensure that the processes and procedures for undertaking environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for major road schemes will continue to work effectively following the UK’s exit from the EU.
References to EU legislation and institutions are replaced; specifically ‘Member States’ are changed to ‘Secretary of State’, references to ‘Union law’ are changed to ‘retained EU law’ and references to European Economic Area (EEA) are amended to reflect that the UK will no longer be a member of the EEA. There are no changes made to the environmental impact assessment (EIA) regimes for major road schemes in England and Wales.
Note that legislation expressed as coming into force on ‘exit day’ (31st January 2020), has been postponed until the end of the ‘implementation period’ (i.e. the transition period which follows Brexit). This postponement is made by Schedule 5 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 [2020 Chapter 1]. Therefore, any provisions expressed above as coming into force on ‘exit day’ will not now come into force until the end of the ‘implementation period’.
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Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: 30 April 2020
Amends: European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (2018 c.16)
The principal purpose of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (2018 c.16) is to ensure that the UK has a functioning statute book on the day it leaves the EU. As a general rule, the same rules and laws will apply on the day after exit as on the day before. The Act does not aim to make major changes to policy or establish new legal frameworks in the UK beyond those which are required to ensure that the law continues to function properly from exit day.
Administrative amendments are made to ensure that the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020 and retained EU Direct Payments legislation are treated the same as other retained EU law which has been incorporated under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. As the Act was not made under the Withdrawal Act, this does not make any changes to duties.
This amendment is not relevant to health and safety matters. Administrative amendments are made to ensure that the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020 and retained EU Direct Payments legislation are treated the same as other retained EU law, which has been incorporated under the EU Withdrawal Act 2020.
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Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: 31st January 2020
Amends: European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (2018 c.16)
These Regulations bring into force provisions of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c.16) (“2018 Act”) with Section 7(1) & (6), Section 23(5) and paragraphs 7, 8, 10 and 12 of Schedule 8 coming into force on ‘exit day’.*
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (Commencement and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2018 is also amended so that Section 23(8) and Schedule 9 of the 2018 Act, which were previously going to come into effect on ‘exit day’, now come into effect on ‘IP completion day’.*
*IP completion day is on the 31st of December 2020.
*Exit day is on the 31st of January 2020.
Jurisdiction: England, Scotland and Wales
Commencement: 24 October 2019
Amends:
Transport Act 1968 creates rules for management of driver safety in relation to goods and passenger vehicles. The rules set out in this Act and subsequent amendments are known as the ‘Domestic Rules’
New provisions in relation to smart tachographs* are to be enforced, through the introduction of Regulation (EU) 2016/799 implementing Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 laying down the requirements for the construction, testing, installation, operation and repair of tachographs and their components.
These amendments are necessary to ensure that effective enforcement action may be taken by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the police, if the smart tachographs requirements are breached.
*Smart tachographs are digital devices with the ability to use satellite positioning and short range communication for road enforcers through a harmonised Intelligent Transport System Interface.
References to Regulation (EU) 2016/799 are inserted to ensure consistency with the latest EU Regulations regarding tachographs.
Consequential amendments are made to the Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, removing overlapping amendments which are not yet in force, to ensure these ‘Amendment Regulations’ operate correctly when brought into force.
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