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Retained direct EU legislation
Practical Law UK Glossary w-030-9891 (Approx. 5 pages)
Glossary
Retained direct EU legislation
The term (as regards all times at or before the end of 2023) for a category of retained EU law, defined by section 20(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA) as any direct EU legislation which forms part of domestic law by virtue of section 3 of the EUWA, as modified from time to time, and including any instruments made under it after the end of the transition period.
At the end of the transition period, section 3(1) of the EUWA incorporated into UK law the texts of direct EU legislation, so far as operative immediately before the end of the transition period.
Direct EU legislation includes the texts of most (but not all) directly applicable EU legislation (such as EU regulations, EU decisions, and EU tertiary legislation), as it had effect in EU law immediately before the end of the transition period (section 3(2), EUWA). Direct EU legislation does not include EU treaties or EU directives, and other rules and exceptions apply. For more information, see Retained EU law toolkit: Retained direct EU legislation.
If any Act of Parliament uses the term:
- Retained direct EU legislation, this has the same meaning as in section 20(1) of the EUWA unless the contrary intention appears (section 5 and paragraph 1, Schedule 1, Interpretation Act 1978 (IA 1978)).
- Enactment, this includes any retained direct EU legislation unless the contrary intention appears (section 5 and paragraph 1, Schedule 1, IA 1978).
Retained direct EU legislation is known as assimilated direct legislation as regards all times after the end of 2023. The consequential amendments that were made on 1 January 2024 by Schedule 2 to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL Act) to reflect this name change, including amendments to the EUWA and the IA 1978, do not apply as regards any time at or before the end of 2023 (section 22(6), REUL Act).