What is the Repeal Bill? First known as the Great Repeal Bill, then the plainer Repeal Bill and now, most prosaically, the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, it is effectively a grand legislative copy-and-paste exercise. The word “repeal” appears because the first aspect of the legislation is to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, which allowed European law to take effect here. The bigger — and more controversial — aspect of the Bill is not about repeal but retention. The Bill aims to enshrine all existing European law (known as the acquis communautaire) into British law, copying it straight into the British statute book ready to take effect at the precise moment the UK ceases to be a member of the bloc.

Source: The Times September 07, 2017 11:15 UTC