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1. Regulating after Brexit

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
05-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Deregulation was at the heart of the Conservative vision of Brexit. Boris Johnson negotiated a Brexit deal which gave Great Britain significant freedom to diverge from EU rules and regulations, promising to make the UK ‘the best regulated economy in the world’. This report examines the extent to which the UK has made use of its ‘Brexit freedoms’, finding that there has been very little meaningful divergence from the EU. It identifies the key reasons for this lack of divergence: trade frictions, political complexities, limited state capacity and a lack of strategy. The report then analyses the change in regulatory approach under the current government. It finds that, unlike its predecessors, this government is willing to align with EU rules to remove existing trade barriers and to avoid new ‘passive divergence’ where EU rule changes create divergence by default. Yet, at the same time, the government is keen to use deregulation to boost growth and to build trade ties with the United States. This report identifies a potential conflict between these aims and its EU regulatory agenda, and argues that the UK needs a clear strategy to ensure its multiple regulatory objectives do not undermine one another.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Economy, Brexit, and Deregulation
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

2. UK-EU Divergence Tracker Q1 2024

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This edition of UK in a Changing Europe’s UK-EU Regulatory Divergence Tracker covers developments from January to March 2024. The Divergence Tracker provides an overview of where and how the UK has diverged from EU regulation. It identifies and analyses the most significant cases of divergence between the UK and EU during the period. It explains what the changes are, what impact they are having, and likely further consequences. In the Q1 2024 edition, the tracker finds five cases of active divergence (where the UK, or some part of it, changes its rules); fifteen of passive divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK, or some part of it, does not follow); one of ‘NI divergence’ (a new category covering cases where action is taken on the potential application of new or updated EU legislation in Northern Ireland); one of procedural divergence (where new processes are introduced to change how pre-existing divergence is managed); and three of active alignment (where the UK takes steps to align more closely with EU rules, systems or programmes). The standout trend in this tracker is the large volume of EU-led divergence, due to the rush to complete files before the parliamentary elections in June. In contrast to the EU, the pace of UK legislation has slowed in the run-up to the general election.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Legislation, and Divergence
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

3. UK-EU Divergence Tracker Q4 2023

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This edition of UK in a Changing Europe’s UK-EU Regulatory Divergence Tracker, covers developments from October 2023 to January 2024. The Regulatory Divergence Trackers provide an overview of where and how the UK has used its regulatory freedoms to diverge from EU regulation. It identifies and analyses the most significant cases of divergence between the UK and EU which have taken place since Brexit. It explains what the changes are, what impact they are having, and likely further consequences. In the Q4 2023 edition, the tracker finds nine cases of active divergence (where the UK, or some part of it, changes its rules); ten of passive divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK, or some part of it, does not follow); two of procedural divergence (where policy does not diverge but the processes for managing it do); and four of active alignment (where the UK takes steps to align more closely with EU rules, systems or programmes). Key developments on the UK-side include bills to ban the export of live animals and amend the UK’s GDPR regime; a new financial services agreement with Switzerland; and the use of secondary legislation to amend the EU-derived working time regulations and cap on bankers’ bonuses. The EU has brought forward some notable measures to increase the burden on businesses in the name of upholding labour and environmental protections.
Topic:
Bilateral Relations, European Union, Regulation, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

4. UK-EU Divergence Tracker Q2-Q3 2024

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This is the twelfth edition of UK in a Changing Europe’s Regulatory Divergence Tracker, outlining how UK and EU regulations have diverged from one another in the period April-October 2024. Unusually, this tracker covers two quarters, accounting for the fact that UK and EU legislative activity was paused over the summer during their respective election periods. This tracker is therefore the first since the new Labour government took office, and there are already signs of a markedly changed approach to managing divergence. The pursuit of active divergence (where the UK moves away from the EU rulebook) has all but dried up, with just one case of active divergence in this tracker having been first initiated by the Labour government. Instead, the new government’s focus has been on delaying existing divergence (five cases) and laying the groundwork for active alignment with EU rules (two cases). The centrepiece of this new alignment agenda is the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill. It would allow the government to mirror a wide range of EU regulations, related to the environmental impacts of products, in UK law. These powers could be used to avoid new GB-EU and GB-NI trade frictions, and to stop Britain becoming a home for goods (e.g. toys, textiles or cars) no longer considered safe enough for the EU market. The tracker also finds twelve cases of ‘passive’ divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK does not follow), as the EU continues to regulate very actively on product and environmental standards, with new standards on vehicle emissions and safety; a new regulation on product safety; new restrictions on PFAS chemicals; and new requirements for airlines to monitor non-CO2 emissions.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, and Divergence
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

5. UK-EU regulatory divergence tracker Q3 2023

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
UK in a Changing Europe’s series of regulatory divergence trackers provide an overview of where and how the UK has used its regulatory freedoms to diverge from EU regulation. It identifies and analyses the most significant cases of divergence between the UK and EU which have taken place since Brexit. It explains what the changes are, what impact they are having, and likely further consequences. This is the ninth edition of the regulatory divergence tracker, covering developments from August to October 2023. There are six cases of active divergence (where the UK, or some part of it, changes its rules); nine of passive divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK, or some part of it, does not follow); two of delayed divergence (where active divergence is delayed); and five of active alignment (where the UK takes steps to align more closely with EU rules, systems or programmes). In a what is now a recurring theme under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the UK has opted to delay some major cases of upcoming divergence.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, and Divergence
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6. UK-EU regulatory divergence tracker: eighth edition

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
UK in a Changing Europe’s series of regulatory divergence trackers provide an overview of where and how the UK has used its newfound regulatory freedoms to diverge from EU regulation. It identifies and analyses the most significant cases of divergence between the UK and EU which have taken place since Brexit. It explains what the changes are, what impact they are having, and likely further consequences. This is the eighth edition of the UK in a Changing Europe’s regulatory divergence tracker, covering developments from April to July 2023. There are eleven cases of active divergence (where the UK, or some part of it, changes its rules); eight of passive divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK, or some part of it, does not follow); two of passive convergence (where the EU takes steps which align with UK rules); three of managed divergence (where the UK and EU make joint efforts to manage the implications of divergence); and one of internal divergence (changes in rules between different parts of the UK).
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Brexit, and Divergence
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

7. UK-EU regulatory divergence tracker: seventh edition

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
UK in a Changing Europe’s series of regulatory divergence trackers provide an overview of where and how the UK has used its newfound regulatory freedoms to diverge from EU regulation. It identifies and analyses the most significant cases of divergence between the UK and EU which have taken place since Brexit. It explains what the changes are, what impact they are having, and likely further consequences. This is the seventh edition of UK in a Changing Europe’s regulatory divergence tracker, covering developments since January 2023. There are seven cases of active divergence (where the UK, or some part of it, changes its rules); two of active convergence (where the UK, or some part of it, aligns to EU rules); 17 of passive divergence (where the EU changes its rules and the UK, or some part of it, does not follow); and one of internal divergence (changes in rules between different parts of the UK). In addition, the Windsor Framework is significant case of ‘managed divergence’: a UK-EU agreement which alters the regulatory border between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI), as created by the Protocol.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Brexit, and Divergence
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

8. UK-EU regulatory divergence tracker: third edition

Author:
Joël Reland, Jill Rutter, and Anand Menon
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This is the third edition of the UK in a Changing Europe’s UK-EU regulatory divergence tracker, covering 27 cases of divergence since December 2021. There are fourteen cases of active divergence (where the UK – or some part of it – takes steps to move away from retained EU law), ten of passive divergence (where the EU legislates and the UK – or some part – does not follow), and three of procedural divergence (where the UK has to introduce new systems to manage policy absent substantive divergence). There are also eleven cases with an additional ‘internal impact’ label, to indicate where UK-EU divergence is leading either to divergence in regulation between different parts of the UK, or has some other impact on the operation of relations between the four UK governments.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe