Europe will miss the enormous regulatory input of the UK after Brexit

Europe will miss the enormous regulatory input of the UK after Brexit

Throughout the debacle that wasthe Brexit campaign much of the Leaverhetoric suggested that getting out from under the rules imposed by EUlegislation was one of the three big reasons to vote leave… remember the oneabout the “bendy bananas”? The truth is, the UK has contributed in no smallmeasure to the body of legislation that today protects Workers and Consumers, Tradeand Agriculture, Food Standards and Water Quality, Fishing, Airspace and PersonalPrivacy. These and a host of many other pan-European initiatives (both rulesand principles based) have underpinned the success of the collective.

The UK has been a leader in the legislativeprocess. Their presence in the forum where ideas and principles are forged intoregulation, directives and decisions has been immense. One of its unseenbenefits is the fact that most of the preparatory work was done in English, andthat much of the commentary and open discussion around what was being proposedwas reported in English. The rest of the world understood what was beingconsidered and had access to the dialogue as it happened. For some this providedopportunity for input, for others it was a chance to prepare for the outcome,and for a growing number it influenced their own law-making decisions.

Post Brexit, the largest English-speakingnation in the EU will be Ireland; with a population of over 4 million and anobvious size-limited capacity for contributing to legislative innovation andpolicy development. On that front, the UK will be sorely missed.

Over the last two years, despiteBrexit shenanigans, regulation has passed through UK parliament that represents,in risk terms, a seismic shift in how organisations that interact withconsumers will be governed. The Senior Managers & Certification Regimemoves the UK towards the “comply or go to jail” model of governance andaccountability adopted by the US and away from the softer “comply or explain”model that applies in most EU countries. Ireland’s Central Bank is poised tomodel it.

The UK’s participation in andcontribution to the conversations that have informed the development ofEuropean legislation has been immense; striking a balance between societal riskand business risk at the European Council, Parliament, Commission and, particularly,at civil service level where the agreed principles are turned into implementablerules.

Britain outside the EU willco-operate in the implementation of sensible legislation and I am sure it will continueto contribute to the ongoing global rollout of AML and Counter Terrorist Financingmeasures and to the completion of the E-Privacy project. Europe will no doubtsurvive without the UK. The balance will be different, particularly in theinformed early stages of proposed legislative reform, and in the generaloversight of the institutions of the union. But, with a strong voice missing, forthe rest of us there are likely to be more “straight bananas”.