De-Europeanising or disengaging? EU environmental policy and Brexit

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has had a profound effect upon its members' environmental policy. Even in the United Kingdom (UK), the EU's most recalcitrant member state (historically labeled the 'Dirty man of Europe'), environmental policy has been Europeanised. As the UK moves to the EU's exit door it is timely to assess the utility of Europeanisation for understanding policy dynamics in the UK. Drawing upon interviews and extensive engagement with stakeholders, this article analyses the potential impact of Brexit upon environmental policy and politics. The analytical toolkit offered by de-Europeanisation is developed to identify the factors that drive and inhibit de-Europeanisation processes, thereby providing insights that may be applicable in other settings. Disengagement and policy stagnation are presented as more likely environmental outcomes of Brexit, with capacity emerging as a central explanatory variable.

De-Europeanisation of UK regulatory governance and the future UK–EU trade relationship

“…Moreover, under s. 6(3), UK courts will consult pre-exit CJEU judgments to aid interpretation of the application of 43 See, for example, the Climate Change Act 2008. 44 Burns et al [7], p. 277. 45 Bertea [2], p. 157.…”

“…The seminars, covering a range of policy areas impacted by Brexit, considered issues of regulatory governance and Single Market access post Brexit as well as identifying regulatory priorities for UK lawmakers and business. 7 EU Council Negotiation Guidelines for the future UK-EU relationship, EUCO XT 20001/18, 23 March 2018 [20]. This includes environmental protection and employment rights; Menon [30] considers this requirement an attempt by the EU to restrain the UK as a commercial competitor.…”

“…The UK commences trade negotiations from a very high level of regulatory alignment of technical standards and public policy which the EU has indicated, as its political preference, that the UK continues to abide by within a trade agreement to ensure a level playing field. 7 Secondly, the article analyses the Political Declaration as the document which sets the parameters for trade negotiations and explores the potential regulatory impact of the UK diverging from EU laws on Single Market access. In particular, the article analyses the potential effects on Single Market access if a principle of mutual recognition were to be excluded from the regulatory framework of the future trade relationship, as would almost certainly be the case with a 'bare bones' Canada-style Free Trade Agreement (FTA).…”

“…50 R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ex parte Miller and others [2017] UKSC 5 para. 84.51 Copeland[13], p. 1126; Burns et al[7], p. 285; Jordan et al[25], pp. 797-798.…”

UK Parliamentary Scrutiny of the EU Political and Legal Space after Brexit*

“…This article makes two principal contributions to the literature on national parliaments and European integration within the context of Brexit. First, we consider how Parliament may adapt to leaving the institutional structures of Europeanization, asking if it may lead to 'de-Europeanization' of UK law, policy and practice (Burns, 2019). We consider how UK courts may respond to 'de-Europeanization' in their application of Retained EU law.…”