Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 17 October 2017.
The Member is very much correct to raise that issue. This, amongst many other issues, is not yet worked through in terms of clarity as far as the public are concerned. It makes no sense at all for the UK to have a different regulatory regime to the rest of Europe, and one of the things that we’ve urged on the UK Government is that there is no need for divergence where none is required. Why would we have a separate system that is different from everyone else, in effect? So, I very much agree with her comments. We have made the point on this and in other areas, such as chemicals for example. The registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals directive—what application will that have after we leave the EU? Does that mean that chemicals will be less regulated in the UK? All these issues will form part, and continue to form part, of the discussions we’re having with the UK Government.