The EU (withdrawal agreement) bill – formerly known as the withdrawal agreement and implementation bill – will legislate for issues such as the agreement on citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the details of a time-limited implementation period.

The precise details of the bill will be subject to the ongoing negotiations with the EU. It does not include information on other separation issues, notably relating to Northern Ireland, which are still subject to discussions between UK and EU negotiators.

On the issue of the transition period, the bill notes the UK and the EU have agreed that the UK’s exit will be followed by a time-limited implementation period, which will last from the moment of exit until 31 December 2020.

During this time, common rules will remain in place, with EU law continuing to apply in the UK subject to the terms set out in the withdrawal agreement. At the end of the implementation period, the current application of common rules will come to an end, as will the existing arrangements under which EU law applies in the UK.

The bill states: ‘This will mean that businesses will be able to trade on the same terms as they do now.’

This means that EU law will continue to have effect in the UK in the same way as now for this 21-month period.

It also means that new pieces of directly applicable EU law that are introduced during this timeframe will continue to apply automatically within the UK; other new EU measures introduced during the implementation period will need to continue to be implemented domestically.

The bill states that most EU directives and regulations which will come into force during the time-limited implementation period have already been agreed or are being negotiated now, while the UK is still a member state, so Parliament is likely to have scrutinised most of it in draft.

However, the bill notes: ‘As there will still be a flow of EU legislation affecting the UK during the implementation period, the government recognises that there is a continuing need for effective scrutiny by the UK Parliament and of close engagement by government with this scrutiny process.’ Details of this will be provided later.

The secretary of state for Exiting the EU, Dominic Raab said: ‘This white paper on the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill explains the pragmatic approach we are taking to legislating for our withdrawal agreement, including the time-limited implementation period that we agreed with the EU in March.

‘It also provides further certainty at home and in the negotiations that the UK is getting on with the job of delivering a smooth and orderly Brexit while giving Parliamentarians an opportunity to consider the detail of the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill before it is introduced.’

White paper on the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill is here.

Report by Pat Sweet