Regulations to deal with deficiencies arising from withdrawal - Independent Report

Part of European Union (Withdrawal) Bill – in the House of Commons at 2:00 pm on 12 December 2017.

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Photo of Mary Creagh Mary Creagh Chair, Environmental Audit Committee, Chair, Environmental Audit Committee 2:00, 12 December 2017

I do not share the right hon. Gentleman’s confidence that all this will be done in time, and I share the concerns of Caroline Lucas. We have been waiting two and a half years for a 25-year environment plan, which will be a 22-year plan by the time it is published. We have had promises of legislation on fisheries and the common agricultural policy, and today a draft animal sentience and animal welfare Bill has been published. There is already a legislative logjam in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as a result of the decision to leave the EU, and at the moment there is a reporting gap. Although there may be a new body in the future to do some of the enforcement, I do not believe that it will be up and ready at the point of leaving, when all our reporting obligations, which currently rest with the European Commission, will fall.