‘Brexit Freedoms’ Bill: Cutting the Red Tape

‘Brexit Freedoms’ Bill: Cutting the Red Tape

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-pledges-brexit-freedoms-bill-to-cut-eu-red-tape

‘Brexit Freedoms’ Bill will be brought forward to end to the special status of EU law and ensure that it can be more easily amended or removed.

• Major cross-government drive to cut £1 billion of red tape for businesses and improve regulation
• Announcement follows PM’s New Year’s Day pledge to go “further and faster” to maximise the benefits of Brexit in 2022

This story is looking at the ‘Brexit Freedoms’ Bill, this Bill has been brough forward with the aims of ‘cutting the red tape’ for businesses which will make it easier to remove or amend EU law which had previously been enshrined into UK law.

While on a surface level there does not appear to be much to talk about here, this particular story is one to watch. If we specifically look at the ‘improve regulations’ part of this press release, this may be referencing the changing of Britain’s laws on data protection, which is currently an EU law transposed into UK law through the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’18’). Additionally, here there is definitely the allusion to the fact that the UK may not be following the EU’s lead in relation to the regulation of AI ‘moving in a faster, more agile way to regulate new digital markets and AI and creating a more proportionate and less burdensome data rights regime compared to the EU’s GDPR’.

The particular importance here is the fact that the UK currently has an adequacy decision with the EU, which allows the free movement of data within the European Economic Area (‘EEA’). This has effectively led to business as usual, despite the fact that the UK has left the EU. However, adequacy can be taken away in the same way that it has been given and changes and divergence from GDPR, currently the UK DPA’18, may cause issues with the EEA.

 

This story is one to watch, as it will no doubt have a serious effect on any UK business operating within the EEA. Tune into the Digital Law News for more updates on this as the year goes on.