Keir Starmer’s government plans to change UK law to make it easier to align with product standards in the European Union, a significant shift in approach included in the King’s Speech setting out the legislative agenda.
The measure is contained in the proposed Product Safety and Metrology Bill, one of 39 unveiled on Wednesday, and is meant to ensure UK law “can be updated to recognize new or updated EU product regulations,” the government said in documents accompanying the speech. That includes regulations on CE marking, the logo that indicates a product’s conformity with European standards.
The goal is to “prevent additional costs for businesses and provide regulatory stability” according to the government.
The new provision comes as the Labour government seeks a wider “reset” in EU relations following Brexit. Starmer has previously said he wants to reach a veterinary agreement to help ease trade friction, which hurts businesses operating across the UK and EU border and also between Northern Ireland and the rest Britain due to Brexit rules designed to protect the EU single market.
That is likely to be a focus when the prime minister hosts the European Political Community summit on Thursday, where Starmer is also expected to pursue agreement on a new security pact.
“This is a major symbolic shift in EU policy,” said Joël Reland, a research fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe think tank. “The Conservative government never countenanced a policy instrument like this, which formally involved alignment with EU regulation. Labour is explicitly stating its preference for accepting certain EU rules in order to help businesses and avoid new trade barriers with Northern Ireland.”
The Tories tore themselves apart over Brexit, as the reality of separating from the UK’s largest trading partner came up against the party’s ideas around sovereignty. Successive administrations promised a bonfire of EU regulations applying in the UK that never happened.
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