The Marine Environment (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

PART 1 Introduction

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Marine Environment (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 and come into force on exit day.

PART 2 Amendment of primary legislation

Amendment of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009

2.—(1) The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009(1) is amended as follows.

(2) In section 60(8)—

(a) omit paragraph (a);

(b) for paragraph (b) substitute—

“(b) functions under section 58 of the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) (international obligations);”(2);

(c) in paragraph (d)—

(i) omit “, or paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 to,”;

(ii) for “(EU obligations)” substitute “(retained EU obligations)”.

(3) In section 76(2)(a), for the words from “under EU law” to “(c. 46))” substitute “exercisable under retained EU law”.

(4) In section 123(5), for “obligations under EU or international law” substitute “retained EU obligations or obligations under international law”.

(5) In section 141—

(a) omit subsection (6);

(b) in subsection (7), omit the definition of “third country vessel”.

(6) In section 244(1), in the definition of “third country vessel”—

(a) in paragraph (a), for “(other than Gibraltar) which is not a member State” substitute “other than the United Kingdom”;

(b) in paragraph (b), for “a member State” substitute “the United Kingdom”.

PART 3 Amendment of subordinate legislation

Amendment of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010

3.—(1) The Marine Strategy Regulations 2010(3) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2—

(a) in paragraph (1)—

(i) omit the definition of “the Commission”;

(ii) in the definition of “devolved policy authority”, for “and” substitute “or”;

(b) in paragraph (4), for “as amended from time to time” substitute “as it had effect immediately before exit day”;

(c) after paragraph (4) insert—

“(5) For the purposes of any reference to an Article or an Annex of the Directive, the Article or Annex is to be read—

(a) subject to the modifications specified in Schedule 3; and

(b) as if—

(i) references to “Member State” or “Member States” (except in Articles 20 to 22) included a reference to the United Kingdom; and

(ii) references to “Community legislation” or “existing Community legislation” were, in relation to the United Kingdom, references to retained EU law.

(6) Any reference in these Regulations to “the requirements of the Directive” is a reference to the requirements of the Directive in so far as any such requirements are not reflected in any provision of these Regulations or by Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 laying down criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status of marine waters and specifications and standardised methods for monitoring and assessment, and read—

(a) as if they applied in relation to the United Kingdom as they apply in relation to a member State;

(b) with the omission of any requirement to provide any information or other matter to the European Commission (however expressed), or any rights of access to or use of any information;

(c) subject to the modifications specified in Schedule 3.”.

(3) In regulation 5(1), after “must” insert “, in accordance with the requirements of Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848,”.

(4) In regulation 6(1)(c), after “with” insert “the requirements of”.

(5) In regulation 8(2) and (3), for “implementing”, in both places where it occurs, substitute “giving effect to the requirements of”.

(6) In regulation 14, after paragraph (13) insert—

“(14) The competent authority must publish a report describing the progress made in implementing the programme of measures within 3 years of any update to that programme.”.

(7) In regulation 15—

(a) in paragraphs (4)(b), (6) and (7), omit “other” in each place where it occurs;

(b) for paragraph (9) substitute—

“(9) The competent authority must—

(a) prepare a report setting out the justification for any such cases identified; and

(b) publish that report as soon as reasonably practicable in a form accessible to the public.”;

(c) for paragraph (11)(a) substitute—

“(a) the competent authority must—

(i) prepare a report setting out the necessary justification; and

(ii) publish that report as soon as reasonably practicable in a form accessible to the public;”.

(8) In regulation 16, for “any other EU instrument” substitute “by any provision of retained EU law other than these Regulations”.

(9) Omit regulation 17.

(10) In regulation 18—

(a) in paragraph (3)—

(i) after “The competent authority” insert “, when consulting under paragraph (1), and the Secretary of State, when consulting under paragraph (2),”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (a), for “its proposal” substitute “the proposal”;

(b) in paragraph (4)—

(i) after “The competent authority” insert “or the Secretary of State, as the case may be,”;

(ii) after “they” insert “respectively”;

(c) in paragraph (5), after “consultation” insert “under paragraph (1)”;

(d) in paragraph (6), after “consultation” insert “under paragraph (1) or (2)”;

(e) in paragraph (7), for the words before sub-paragraph (a) substitute—

“After taking any decision in relation to a proposal following a consultation on that proposal, the competent authority or the Secretary of State, as the case may be, must publish a report in respect of that decision, which must—”;

(f) in paragraph (8), after “OSPAR Commission” insert “(the Commission established by Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic)”.

(11) In regulation 19—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “implementing” substitute “giving effect to the requirements of”;

(b) in paragraph (8)(a), after “giving effect to the” insert “requirements of the”.

(12) In regulation 20(1), after “of the” insert “requirements of the”.

(13) In Schedule 1—

(a) in Part 1, in paragraph 5—

(i) omit sub-paragraph (a);

(ii) for sub-paragraph (b) substitute—

“(b) functions under section 58 of the Scotland Act 1998 (international obligations);”;

(iii) in sub-paragraph (d)—

(aa) omit “, or paragraph (5) of Schedule 3 to,”;

(bb) for “(Community obligations)” substitute “(retained EU obligations)”;

(b) in Part 2, omit the definition of “regional cooperation”.

(14) After Schedule 2 insert Schedule 3, as set out in Schedule 1.

Amendment of the Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) Order 2011

4.—(1) The Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) Order 2011(4) is amended as follows.

(2) In article 37(2)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (a), for “(other than Gibraltar) which is not a member State” substitute “other than the United Kingdom”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (b), for “a member State” substitute “the United Kingdom”.

PART 4 Amendment of retained direct EU legislation

Amendment of Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848

5.—(1) Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 laying down criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status of marine waters and specifications and standardised methods for monitoring and assessment is amended in accordance with paragraph (2) and regulations 6 to 12.

(2) Except where otherwise indicated in regulations 6 to 12, for references to “Member States” substitute “the Secretary of State, in consultation with the devolved policy authorities,”.

Amendment of Article 1

6.—(1) Article 1 is amended as follows.

(2) The first paragraph is renumbered paragraph 1.

(3) In point (b), for “Member States” substitute “the competent authorities”.

(4) In point (c), omit “Union, ”.

(5) After point (d) insert—

“2.   Regulation 7(3) of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010(5) applies for the purposes of any function conferred by this Decision as it applies for the purposes of the adoption or revision of any element of the marine strategy.”.

Amendment of Article 2

7.—(1) Article 2 is amended as follows.

(2) In the heading, at the end insert “and interpretation”.

(3) The first paragraph is renumbered paragraph 1.

(4) In the first paragraph, for “laid down in Article 3 of Directive 2008/56/EC shall apply” substitute “in regulation 3 (meaning of the “marine strategy area” and “marine waters”) of, and Part 2 of Schedule 1 to, the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010 apply”.

(5) The second paragraph is renumbered paragraph 2.

(6) In the second paragraph, after point (5) insert—

“(6) “regional sea convention” means any of the international conventions or international agreements together with their governing bodies established for the purpose of protecting the marine environment of the marine regions referred to in Article 4, such as the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea, the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-east Atlantic and the Convention for the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean Sea.

(7) “regional cooperation” means cooperation and coordination of activities between the United Kingdom and, whenever possible, other countries sharing the same marine region or subregion, for the purpose of developing and implementing marine strategies.

(8) “competent authority” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010.

(9) “devolved policy authority” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010.”.

(7) After the second paragraph insert—

“3.   For the purposes of any reference to Directive 2008/56/EC, or to any Article or Annex of that Directive, that Directive, or the Article or Annex, is to be read subject to the modifications specified in Annex 2 and as if—

(a) references to “Member State” or “Member States” (except in Articles 20 to 22) included a reference to the United Kingdom; and

(b) references to “Community legislation” or “existing Community legislation” were, in relation to the United Kingdom, references to retained EU law.”.

Amendment of Article 3

8.—(1) Article 3 is amended as follows.

(2) For “the Annex”, in each place where it occurs, substitute “Annex 1”.

(3) In paragraph 1—

(a) in the first subparagraph—

(i) for “Member States”, in the first place where it occurs, substitute “The competent authorities”;

(ii) for the final sentence substitute—

“In such cases, the Secretary of State shall provide a justification for that opinion in any report provided pursuant to regulation 18(7) of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010.”;

(b) in the second subparagraph—

(i) for “a Member State” substitute “the Secretary of State”;

(ii) omit “other”.

(4) In paragraph 2, for “each Member State” substitute “the Secretary of State, in consultation with the devolved policy authorities,”.

(5) In paragraph 4—

(a) omit “Union, ”;

(b) for “Member States” substitute “the competent authorities”.

Amendment of Article 4

9.—(1) Article 4 is amended as follows.

(2) In the heading, omit “Union,”.

(3) In paragraph 1—

(a) in the words before point (a)—

(i) for “are” substitute “is”;

(ii) omit “Union,”;

(b) in point (b), for “Union legislation” substitute “retained EU law”.

(4) In paragraph 2—

(a) for “have” substitute “has”;

(b) omit “Union,”;

(c) for “they” substitute “the Secretary of State, in consultation with the devolved policy authorities,”.

(5) In paragraph 3—

(a) omit “by Member States”;

(b) for “that Member State” substitute “the Secretary of State, in consultation with the devolved policy authorities,”;

(c) for “Member States”, in the second place where it occurs, substitute “the competent authority”.

(6) In paragraph 4—

(a) omit “by Member States”;

(b) for “Article 17(2)(a) of Directive 2008/56/EC” substitute “regulations 10(2) and 11(4) of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010”.

Amendment of Article 5

10.—(1) Article 5 is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 1—

(a) omit “Union,”;

(b) for “Article 17(2)(a) of Directive 2008/56/EC” substitute “regulations 10(2) and 11(4) of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010”.

(3) In paragraph 2—

(a) for “are” substitute “is”;

(b) omit “Union,”;

(c) omit from “, on the condition that” to the end.

Amendment of Article 6

11.—(1) Article 6 is amended as follows.

(2) For the words from “Each Member State” to “Article 17(3) of Directive 2008/56/EC” substitute, “The Secretary of State shall specify, as part of the report made pursuant to regulation 18(7) of the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010”.

(3) Omit “Union, ”.

Amendment of the Annex and insertion of Annex 2

12.—(1) The Annex is renumbered Annex 1.

(2) The Annex is amended as follows—

(a) in the words before Part 1 of the Annex, for “Member States”, in both places where it occurs, substitute “the Secretary of State”;

(b) Part 1 of the Annex is amended as set out in Schedule 2;

(c) Part 2 of the Annex is amended as set out in Schedule 3.

(3) After the Annex insert Annex 2, as set out in Schedule 4.

Thérèse Coffey

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

18th December 2018