European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018

Financial and other matters

14 Financial provision

(1) Schedule 4 (which contains powers in connection with fees and charges) has effect.

(2) A Minister of the Crown, government department or devolved authority may incur expenditure, for the purpose of, or in connection with, preparing for anything about which provision may be made under a power to make subordinate legislation conferred or modified by or under this Act, before any such provision is made.

(3) There is to be paid out of money provided by Parliament—

(a) any expenditure incurred by a Minister of the Crown, government department or other public authority by virtue of this Act, and

(b) any increase attributable to this Act in the sums payable by virtue of any other Act out of money so provided.

(4) Subsection (3) is subject to any other provision made by or under this Act or any other enactment.

15 Publication and rules of evidence

(1) Part 1 of Schedule 5 (which makes provision for the publication by the Queen’s Printer of copies of retained direct EU legislation and related information) has effect.

(2) Part 2 of Schedule 5 (which makes provision about rules of evidence) has effect.

16 Maintenance of environmental principles etc.

(1) The Secretary of State must, within the period of six months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed, publish a draft Bill consisting of—

(a) a set of environmental principles,

(b) a duty on the Secretary of State to publish a statement of policy in relation to the application and interpretation of those principles in connection with the making and development of policies by Ministers of the Crown,

(c) a duty which ensures that Ministers of the Crown must have regard, in circumstances provided for by or under the Bill, to the statement mentioned in paragraph (b),

(d) provisions for the establishment of a public authority with functions for taking, in circumstances provided for by or under the Bill, proportionate enforcement action (including legal proceedings if necessary) where the authority considers that a Minister of the Crown is not complying with environmental law (as it is defined in the Bill), and

(e) such other provisions as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(2) The set of environmental principles mentioned in subsection (1)(a) must (however worded) consist of—

(a) the precautionary principle so far as relating to the environment,

(b) the principle of preventative action to avert environmental damage,

(c) the principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source,

(d) the polluter pays principle,

(e) the principle of sustainable development,

(f) the principle that environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of policies and activities,

(g) public access to environmental information,

(h) public participation in environmental decision-making, and

(i) access to justice in relation to environmental matters.

17 Family unity for those seeking asylum or other protection in Europe

(1) A Minister of the Crown must seek to negotiate, on behalf of the United Kingdom, an agreement with the EU under which, after the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, in accordance with the agreement—

(a) an unaccompanied child who has made an application for international protection to a member State may, if it is in the child’s best interests, come to the United Kingdom to join a relative who—

(i) is a lawful resident of the United Kingdom, or

(ii) has made a protection claim which has not been decided, and

(b) an unaccompanied child in the United Kingdom, who has made a protection claim, may go to a member State to join a relative there, in equivalent circumstances.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a)(i) a person is not a lawful resident of the United Kingdom if the person requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom but does not have it.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a)(ii), a protection claim is decided—

(a) when the Secretary of State notifies the claimant of the Secretary of State’s decision on the claim, unless the claimant appeals against the decision, or

(b) if the claimant appeals against the Secretary of State’s decision on the claim, when the appeal is disposed of.

(4) In this section—

• “application for international protection” has the meaning given by Article 2(h) of Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted;

• “protection claim” has the same meaning as in Part 5 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (see section 82(2) of that Act);

• “relative”, in relation to an unaccompanied child, means—

  (a)

  a spouse or civil partner of the child or any person with whom the child has a durable relationship that is similar to marriage or civil partnership, or

  (b)

  a parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, brother or sister of the child;

• “unaccompanied child” means a person under the age of 18 (“the child”) who is not in the care of a person who—

  (a)

  is aged 18 or over, and

  (b)

  by law or custom of the country or territory in which the child is present, has responsibility for caring for the child.

18 Customs arrangement as part of the framework for the future relationship

(1) A Minister of the Crown must lay before each House of Parliament a statement in writing outlining the steps taken by Her Majesty’s Government, in negotiations under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, to seek to negotiate an agreement, as part of the framework for the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the EU, for the United Kingdom to participate in a customs arrangement with the EU.

(2) The statement under subsection (1) must be laid before both Houses of Parliament before the end of 31 October 2018.

19 Future interaction with the law and agencies of the EU

Nothing in this Act shall prevent the United Kingdom from—

(a) replicating in domestic law any EU law made on or after exit day, or

(b) continuing to participate in, or have a formal relationship with, the agencies of the EU after exit day.