Brexit – What Does This Mean For UK Environmental Law?

The people of the UK have voted to leave the EU. British citizens on both political sides are now waiting to see if the British Government will invoke formal Article 50 proceedings to leave. Any exit will take a number of years and the legal impact will be vast. Environmental legislation, most of which is derived from the EU is particularly uncertain.

EU Environmental Regulation is at present directly applicable, with domestic laws only addressing the enforcement of that law. Until the UK is actually in an exit transition, this will remain the case. Then the Government will need to outline its transitional position and review which laws it wishes to then legislate to retain. The impact of Article 50's timing and process and the influence by affected industries both in the UK and EU, in making this determination is not to be underestimated.