Baker Consultants

Brexit and the effect on Wildlife Law

The political events of the last few weeks have put into sharp focus the potential for the current government to take us out of the European Union without a deal.

This has prompted a number of my clients to ask me what would be the impact of ‘crashing out’ of the EU on legal processes like Habitats Regulations Assessments, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), or those associated with the protection of great crested newts or bats?

The key to answering this question is the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This Act repeals the European Communities Act 1972 but at the same time saves the majority of EU derived domestic legislation that was in force the day before ‘exit day’ to be carried forward and continue to be in force the day after exit day.  Exit day is defined under the Act and was originally set as 22nd March 2019. Of course, exit day has moved on (12th April, 22nd May, 19th, and now 31st October 2019) and with each new exit date the Act has been updated.

So, the simple answer to the question is that crashing out of the EU on 31st October will not result in any fundamental overnight changes in wildlife law as all domestic derivations of EU law will be saved. Any changes to wildlife law are likely to be long term and depend upon the agenda of whatever government is in power. A no deal Brexit will of course have major implications for the UK and my view is that any changes to wildlife law will be far down the government’s list of legislative priorities.