04-03-2017, 01:14 AM
First, as its name suggests, the bill will repeal the European Communities Act, the British law that took the UK into the European Community in 1973 and which established the supremacy of EU law over domestic legislation. Second, it will transpose the entire body of EU legislation into domestic law. The UK Parliament currently has no power to repeal EU legislation. It is hard to calculate exactly what proportion of UK laws come from the EU - estimates range from 13% to 60%. Transposing EU legislation into domestic law will not be a simple "copy and paste" job. The House of Commons library says it could be "one of the largest legislative projects ever undertaken in the UK".
Reality Check: Does the Great Repeal Bill repeal EU laws? - BBC News
Many EU laws, for example on the environment, refer to EU agencies that the UK will no longer be part of when it leaves the Union. The Great Repeal Bill will have to find new ways of making those rules part of UK law. Any rules that cannot be transferred will have to be repealed. The government has controversial plans to give ministers the power to make changes to some laws without full Parliamentary scrutiny, which could add further complications. They are known as Henry VIII clauses, after the Statute of Proclamations 1539, which gave the king power to legislate by proclamation. Some opposition politicians are concerned this could mean an executive power grab - the government changing laws without proper scrutiny by MPs. The government says these powers will only be used to deal with EU-related gaps in the law, not to make substantive policy changes.
Reality Check: Does the Great Repeal Bill repeal EU laws? - BBC News

