The government’s aim to review and revoke or retain every piece of EU legislation by the end of next year risks “destabilising” the travel industry, Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer has warned.
But a former senior government official has suggested it would be a mistake for the government to delay and warned the industry to prepare for “a hard deadline”.
The Retained EU Law Revocation and Reform Bill, currently going through Parliament, sets a deadline of the end of 2023 for the government to review all EU-derived legislation.
If the bill goes through in its current form, all EU-derived or retained legislation could be revoked unless the government amends or delays the process. Businesses have demanded the government delay or drop the bill.
Speaking at Abta’s Travel Matters conference in London on Tuesday, Tanzer warned of “the possible removal of consumer protections” and said: “The Bill sets a sunset deadline of next year on UK law and regulations derived from EU legislation and has the potential to destabilise the travel industry.”
He said: “I urge the government to push out the sunset deadline. Designing the system of the future, and giving the industry time to adapt, is not the work of months.”
Nikki da Costa, former director of legislative affairs at 10 Downing Street, agreed: “The Retained EU Law bill is really challenging. By December 31 next year the government must make a decision to repeal, retain or roll over all EU legislation.”
She said: “It’s a mammoth undertaking [and] Whitehall will want everything to go to the fall-back date of 2026.”
However, da Costa told the summit: “You don’t want to roll over a Bill you think will give massive power to the next government.
“Brexiters will accuse the government of backsliding if it does.”
Da Costa advised Abta members: “Prepare for December 31 next year to be a hard deadline.”
Aviation minister Baroness Vere told the conference: “I think we can get through it. A lot of secondary [EU] legislation is related to safety and security, so the amount we have options on is limited and a lot of that is around consumer protection.”
She argued: “We have to play on the pitch we’re on, and we’re on a pitch where things can change.”
Abta director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge said: “The government needs to review every bit of EU law by the end of 2023. Clearly, that is not going to happen. We need a level of pragmatism on that otherwise it’s not going to work.”
However, Petherbridge noted: “The government could retain most of the legislation and just review bits.”