Regulatory Strings that Bind and the UK Parliament after Brexit

16 Pages Posted: 25 Jan 2022

See all articles by Davor Jancic

Davor Jancic

Queen Mary University of London

Date Written: January 24, 2022

Abstract

This article analyses Brexit’s promise of restoring sovereignty and regulatory autonomy from the EU from the perspective of the UK Parliament. The clawing back of democratic authority is examined through the lens of future UK-EU regulatory relations regardless of the outcome of the future relationship negotiations. Building on the literature on the Brussels Effect, the article argues that the strength of economic interdependence between the UK and the EU and the size and influence of the latter’s market, policed by EU institutions, generate significant pressures for UK regulatory alignment with EU standards. This is demonstrated through an extensive examination of the contents of UK parliamentary scrutiny of the projected impacts of Brexit on the key UK export industry sectors: automotive, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and financial services. It will be shown that select committees across both Houses of Parliament, including the Eurosceptic ones, have advocated close alignment with EU regulatory standards across the export-intensive economic sectors. These findings are important because they relativise the act of taking back control to the extent that the substance of Westminster’s post-Brexit legislative activity continues to be influenced by EU regulation and policy. This in turn shows the prospects for informal Europeanisation of UK law after Brexit.

Suggested Citation

Jancic, Davor, Regulatory Strings that Bind and the UK Parliament after Brexit (January 24, 2022). Queen Mary Law Research Paper No. 376/2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4016642

Davor Jancic (Contact Author)

Queen Mary University of London ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/staff/jancic.html

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