On 16 July, the UK Government published its proposals for new legislation on the UK internal market. This new law is likely to be one of the most constitutionally significant pieces of legislation enacted as part of the Brexit process. The timetable for the legislation appears short: the White Paper suggests it will need to be enacted by 1 January 2021.
The UK Government says the law is necessary to ensure that no new internal barriers to trade emerge in the UK after Brexit. However, the proposals have already proven contentious and have been criticised by both the Welsh and Scottish governments.
How far the proposals will affect devolution remains unclear. While the White Paper sets out an overarching framework for how the law would work, it leaves many questions unanswered. Senedd Research and legal services have produced a research paper that summarises the key proposals in the White Paper (PDF 439KB) and seeks to explain why they matter and what impact they could have. It identifies key issues and questions that arise and provides some illustrative examples of what these issues could mean for the future of devolution in Wales.
Article by Nia Moss, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
