Green groups call for overhaul of repeal bill to safeguard environment after Brexit
Campaigners from organisations including Greenpeace, the National Trust and Friends of the Earth highlight major risks to environment if EU protections are dropped or diluted. Environmental campaigners with 8 million members between them are putting forward key amendments to the repeal bill to be published on Thursday to tackle the threat of Brexit leaving huge gaps in environmental protection in the UK. Campaigners from organisations including the RSPB, Client Earth, Greenpeace, the National Trust, and Friends of the Earth, are highlighting the major risks to the environment if the spirit and letter of EU law and the ability to enforce it, is not rolled over into the repeal bill. Shaun Spiers, who is chairing the coalition known as Greener UK, said the organisations would be holding the Government to account to ensure the repeal bill does not dilute the force of law which has led to beaches being cleaned and set limits for air pollution across the country. “This is the biggest thing the environmental movement has faced for decades,” said Spiers. “80% of EU environmental laws derive from EU directives. This is likely to be the largest part of the repeal bill to be published on Thursday. We will be holding the Government to account on this. No one voted for dirtier beaches or worse air quality. The government has promised to bring all environmental protections into domestic law, but laws are only effective when there are strong institutions to enforce them.” The coalition has been lobbying MPs and seeking support for amendments to the bill. The amendments are targeted at three areas: reducing the chance of ministers interfering without parliamentary scrutiny to alter or get rid of legislation they do not like when EU laws are rolled over into domestic legislation, ensuring that the powers of enforcement of the European commission and European court of justice are taken over by a domestic institution with experience, accountability and teeth and ensuring key principles of EU law, such as the polluter pays, are not abandoned after Brexit is enacted. Richard Benwell, head of government affairs for the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, said: “We want to make sure that when EU law is transferred to UK law it doesn’t just sit on the statute books but is actually lived and breathed in the UK. There are important principles of EU law like the polluter pays, the need to contribute to sustainable development – these are guidelines for courts but also for businesses in deciding how they behave, and for government.
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on Jul 13 2017. Filed under News at Now.
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