Bookkeepers and payroll professionals deal with masses of pieces of legislation on a day-to-day basis.
Much of this has been derived from Directives when the United Kingdom (UK) was part of the European Union (EU). You will have seen ICB refer to things such as the Working Time Regulations being ‘EU-derived’ legislation as the Regulations themselves were the result of the EU Working Time Directive.
The UK has left the EU and The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force on 01 January 2024 and change the way that legislation refers to anything that is the result of EU membership. Note that this does not change legislation, only changes the way that we must refer to laws that have been retained on the UK’s massive library of legislation:
- Any reference to ‘retained EU Law’ is must now be called ‘assimilated law’
- Any reference to ‘retained EU case law’ must now be called ‘assimilated EU case law’
For Bookkeepers
Simply, if the UK retained any EU legislation at the end of December 2023, i.e. the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 did not abolish it altogether, it is now to be referred to as assimilated. To assimilate something is to take something in and that is what has happened. It has been taken in to become UK domestic legislation.
Any references to things like ‘principles of EU law’ that may have been interpreted by EU courts (such as the European Court of Justice (CJEU) are removed. The above Regulations do not change Acts or Regulations made by the devolved nations (in Scotland Wales), but they do in Northen Ireland.
ICB had put together this article to clarify for ourselves what the 2023 Regulations have done and how we must refer to anything that came about from the UK’s time as a Member State of the European Union.
