BREXIT begins: Theresa May to unveil legal blueprint to end supremacy of EU law

[MikeWB]

Theresa May to unveil legal blueprint to END supremacy of EU law in Britain
THERESA May is set to announce her intention to move all Brussels laws and regulations onto the British statute books before the country leaves the European Union, paving the way for the return of parliamentary sovereignty.
By Nick Gutteridge
PUBLISHED: 20:31, Sat, Oct 1, 2016 | UPDATED: 21:57, Sat, Oct 1, 2016


The Prime Minister will use her speech to the Tory party conference tomorrow to announce the repealing of the 1972 European Communities Act, which is the current vehicle by which EU laws are implemented in the UK.

As part of the process she will transfer all current Brussels laws and regulations onto parliament's statute books instead, with MPs set to spent the next few decades going through them one by one and deciding which ones they do and do not want to keep.

The announcement is the new PM's first firm commitment on Brexit since moving into No 10 in July, and gives an insight into how she plans to go about handling the monumentally complex process of severing ties with Brussels.

Tellingly the bold move indicates that the Government is clearly not ruling out a so-called 'hard Brexit' as the UK would need to remain signed up to European diktats as part of any deal to stay in the single market.

It is also being seen as the first major attempt to end the 44-year supremacy of EU law in Britain and hand back ultimate control over the nation's affairs to elected MPs.

Announcing the move, Mrs May told the Sunday Times: "This marks the first stage in the UK becoming a sovereign and independent country once again.

"It will return power and authority to the elected institutions of our country. It means that the authority of EU law in Britain will end."

As part of the process a new "Great Repeal Bill" will be introduced in parliament as early as next year. If and when it is passed by MPs it will formally sever one of the UK's key legal links with Brussels upon the country exiting the bloc.

Repealing the European Communities Act was a key pledge at the heart of the Vote Leave movement during the EU refrendum campaign, and Mrs May's commitment to it is likely to reassure Brexiteers worried about any possible attempts to backslide on the result.

The move is also designed to show the Government's critics that it does have a plan over how to handle Brexit, and will calm nerves that workers' rights secured via Brussels, such as parental leave and automatic holiday, will be secured for the forseeable future.

Tonight Tory MP and leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg described the move as "the sensible way to proceed".

He told Sky News: ""It's the sensible way to proceed and it recognises the reality of our position. European regulations come into domestic law and they will need to remain in law until they are repealed and replaced.

"Not all of them are stupid, some of them are perfectly sensible and we will want to keep them. It would be wrong to have a vacuum in law and so to put it into one bill and then take many years to work out the ones you want to repeal, the ones you want to reform, the ones you actually want to keep is the intelligence way to proceed."

Asked which EU laws he would like to see Britain retain, the outspoken backbencher added: "There are going to be some things, yes. Whether it needs to be the same everywhere in the European Union, it is perfectly sensible to have a sign that says there's a fire exit and things like that.

"Routine regulations of that kind are perfectly sensible and nobody is going to want to abolish them. Some of the wildlife regulations people will want to keep, actually some of the health and safety regulations - it is very sensible to have a regulation on people working on ladders which are quite dangerous. So not every EU regulation is about bendy bananas."

    Remainers should be pleased by PM's announcement. All EU law will become British law and there'll be a parliamentary vote about Brexit.
    — Toby Young (@toadmeister) October 1, 2016

    This simply states the obvious. Surely more detail on the nature/timing of #Brexit must be forthcoming tomorrow. https://t.co/lx19ktcIoD
    — Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 1, 2016


However SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who is fighting to keep Scotland in the EU, was unimpressed by the development, tweeting: "This simply states the obvious. Surely more detail on the nature/timing of Brexit must be forthcoming tomorrow."

In a symbolic show of unity Mrs May will tomorrow take to the stage at the Tory conference with her three Brexiteers - Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and David Davis.

There have been reports of cracks between the PM's top team, with foreign secretary Mr Johnson breaking rank over when Article 50 will be triggered and Dr Fox gunning for a hard Brexit.

The Brexit secretary Mr Davis, who will lead the negotiations with Brussels, will explain the decision to bring EU laws onto the British statute books during his speech to the party faithful.

He will say: "As we prepare for those negotiations in Europe, we also need to prepare for the impact of Brexit on domestic law.

"It's very simple. At the moment we leave, Britain must be back in control. And that means EU law must cease to apply.

"To ensure continuity, we will take a simple approach. EU law will be transposed into domestic law, wherever practical, on exit day. It will be for elected politicians here to make the changes to reflect the outcome of our negotiation and our exit.

"That is what people voted for - power and authority residing once again with the sovereign institutions of our own country."

However, there are fears that bitter Remainers in the House of Lords could attempt to hold up or even block the legislation as part of an establishment campaign to keep Britain in the Brussels bloc.

If passed, the legislation will come into effect on the day that Britain leaves the EU and will officially end the supremacy of EU law, including that of the European Court of Justice over British courts.

Elsewhere it is understood that in her maiden speech as leader to the Tory conference Mrs May will also confirm that she will not call a General Election before 2020, arguing that doing so would create instability.

Some Tories have been urging the new PM to call a snap general election, pointing to opinion polls which show she would score a huge majority and crush Labour under the hapless leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

But Mr Rees-Mogg backed Mrs May's stance, arguing: "I don't think there's a popular demand for it. We've just had a big referendum, we had a general election last year.

"I tend to agree that a period of stability will be beneficial and it seems to me it's what people want."

[MikeWB]

Brexit divorce lawyers eye up EU's wine list

UK to lay claim to array of Brussels cellars, art and property as part of split

Britain is planning to claim a share of the EU's 42,000-bottle cellar of wine, cognac and other spirits, its art collection and its €8.7bn property portfolio as the government gears up to haggle over Brexit with Brussels.
Britain is planning to claim a share of the EU's 42,000-bottle cellar of wine, cognac and other spirits, its art collection and its €8.7bn property portfolio as the government gears up to haggle over Brexit with Brussels.

As in any divorce, untangling EU-UK financial affairs is expected to be one of the most difficult part of the negotiations. Any exit deal must settle complex liabilities including the UK share of guarantees on €60bn of Eurocrat pensions and almost €20bn of European Investment Bank loans.

As it seeks to minimise any financial hit, Britain is eyeing the other side of the EU's balance sheet, which includes assets ranging from land and office space to dozens of space satellites, the European Parliament's art collection, the wine and spirits stock — and Margaret Thatcher's old Conservative party citadel in Westminster.

"Of course we will go for the assets," said one British official involved in preparations.

The ratio for divvying up the value of assets with Britain is likely to be highly contentious. But on the basis that Britain makes around an eighth of net EU budget contributions, its claim would cover roughly 5,000 bottles of wine, 250 bottles of spirits, €2.25m worth of art from the European Parliament's collection, and around €10m from the book value of the European Court of Justice building.

Much of the financial detail of the divorce deal will be handled by Michel Barnier, the former French foreign minister who officially takes up his post as the commission's chief Brexit negotiator on Saturday, some 100 days after the EU referendum.

The EU's consolidated accounts from 2015 show property and equipment of €8.7bn, valued at the price paid when the buildings were purchased, mostly in the 1980s and 1990s. Britain would be expected to press for a survey to find the current market value on the assets.

Among these assets are more than 1.6m square metres of office space in Brussels alone, covering the European Parliament's main buildings, the new "Europa" summit building for European leaders, and some 60 Commission buildings. This includes the Berlaymont headquarters, which the commission leases but presents as an asset in accounts because it can exercise an option to buy the building from Belgium for €1 in 2031.

Most tantalising for Brexiters may be the potential to reclaim 32 Smith Square, the former home of Conservative Central Office and backdrop to three Thatcher election victories. Bought for £26m and renovated in 2010, the Westminster property was rebranded "Europe House" and serves as a base for the commission and European Parliament in Britain.

Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader who as an MEP still has use of an office in the building, said Britain should take back the landmark. "I think they should make it a monument to Mrs Thatcher and to Brexit, Mr Farage said. "They should turn it into a museum."

Along with extensive properties in Luxembourg and Strasbourg, the EU maintains a network of agencies, delegations and offices around Europe, with prized buildings such as its Paris representation on Boulevard Saint-Germain.

As the EU has expanded its presence around the world, it has built a network of more than 300 properties in 138 countries. A fifth are owned by the bloc, with EU properties as far afield as Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

https://www.ft.com/content/bb899c94-8715-11e6-a75a-0c4dce033ade