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This is the twelfth edition of UK in a Changing Europe’s Regulatory Divergence Tracker, outlining how UK and EU regulations have diverged from one another in the period April-October 2024. Unusually, this tracker covers two quarters, accounting for the fact that UK and EU legislative activity was paused over the summer during their respective election periods.
This tracker is therefore the first since the new Labour government took office, and there are already signs of a markedly changed approach to managing divergence. The pursuit of active divergence (where the UK moves away from the EU rulebook) has all but dried up, with just one case of active divergence in this tracker having been first initiated by the Labour government. Instead, the new government’s focus has been on delaying existing divergence (five cases) and laying the groundwork for active alignment with EU rules (two cases).
The centrepiece of this new alignment agenda is the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. It would allow the government to mirror a wide range of EU regulations, related to the environmental impacts of products, in UK law. These powers could be used to avoid new GB-EU and GB-NI trade frictions, and to stop Britain becoming a home for goods (e.g. toys, textiles or cars) no longer considered safe enough for the EU market.
The tracker also finds twelve cases of ‘passive’ divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK does not follow), as the EU continues to regulate very actively on product and environmental standards, with new standards on vehicle emissions and safety; a new regulation on product safety; new restrictions on PFAS chemicals; and new requirements for airlines to monitor non-CO2 emissions.
For a summary of the key points, see Joël Reland’s policy briefing here.