The European Movement UK campaigned for the government to drop the Retained EU Law Bill that would have given ministers powers to delete 3,800 laws, practically overnight with no scrutiny.

After pressure from supporters like you, members of parliament, members of the House of Lords, charities and other campaign groups the Government watered down the Bill.

But we know that that Bill was just the first of many challenges we face to save our standards after Brexit.

The Leave campaign leaders have broken every one of their promises.

Giving those same leader’s free rein to demolish vital legal protections with no democratic oversight is bad for our democracy, bad for people and bad for our economy.

European Movement UK demands the Government put an end to the uncertainty and align the UK’s standards and regulation closely with our European neighbours. The European Movement calls for the government to:

• Provide a legally binding guarantee that they won’t slash our standards or drop EU laws which positively build on our established regulations and standards;

• Commit to retaining or improving key legislation on wildlife protection, animal welfare, employment rights, environmental protections, food standards;

• The government must engage openly and transparently with third-sector organisations that are raising concerns about the implications of divergence in these areas, and;

• Strengthen the scrutiny process of parliament to allow for the implications of divergence to be fully understood

Moving away from regulations and standards the UK helped create as a member of the EU will lower UK goods and employment standards to well below EU levels and destroy our ability to trade with the EU, breaking the terms of the Brexit agreement and risking a trade war.

This Government does not have the mandate to put British people’s rights, health, and safety at risk.

EU regulations are not perfect but are not ‘red tape’ either. They improve the quality of our everyday lives by protecting our rights as workers and consumers, our environment and wildlife and the quality of the food we eat.

EU laws, standards and regulations were created with the support of governments of all political parties when the UK was in the EU.

EU laws and regulations – that the Government now wants to dismantle – protect us in the workplace. They guarantee our paid holidays, reduce the gender pay gap and protect the rights of people on maternity and paternity leave. They limit the number of hours we are required to work and defend our rights if we face redundancy.

The Government has already tried to dismantle these protections, laws that protect our environment by helping tackle climate change, maintain biodiversity and keep air, water and beaches clean are all at risk.

The EU has also halted the decline of animal populations like otters, dormice, and dolphins. They have established 286 conservation and protected areas across the UK, so our wildlife can thrive and have ended animal testing for cosmetics.

The safety and quality of our food and hard-won progress on animal welfare are all under threat. If the Government is successful, laws which prevent the sale of American-style chlorinated chicken, prohibit growth hormone-injected meat and protect farming and agriculture will all be at risk.

Sign up and support the European Movement’s campaign to Save Our Standards today.

Click here to open a PDF with the most frequently asked questions.